My Brain Doesn't Need No Medication

Spontaneous, rhythmic gestures lay the foundation for my practice. Certain markings draw me in that I then reconstruct on canvas. Fleeting gestures are fixed in place and given symbolic weight, ribbons of colour are then moulded into form bound by a black outline. Punctuated by psychic dripping blob-like structures, they strike down as cognitive intrusions destabilising the linear flow. My process oscillates between chance and control, method and spontaneity. For me, abstraction offers a way to mirror the complexities of human experience.

Tamara Mendels lives and works in the Northern Rivers of New South Wales, Australia. She has been a finalist in numerous prizes, including the Wollumbin Art Prize (2026, 2024), the Wollongong Art Prize (2025), the Urunga Small Sculpture Prize (2025), and was the recipient of the Fauvette Loureiro Traveling Scholarship, Sydney College of the Arts (2008). Mendels’ work is held in The Leeder Art Collection, Tweed Regional Gallery and private collections.

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