Guest Star #105...Tara Locklear

skateboard decks

I'm off to Raleigh today to spend the weekend with today's Guest Star, Tara Locklear. Tara and I are both in METALS 2012 at Light Art + Design and will be attending the opening on Saturday. We will also head to Greenville to attend the thesis show of our friend, Leia Zumbro, and plan to spend time together in Tara's studio. (I've been looking forward to this weekend since I got back from Belgium!) I met Tara a few years ago when she was at ECU working on her BFA; our shared love of spray paint is how our friendship began.

Tara's work focuses on jewelry as status symbol and she uses iconic images and forms to convey her ideas. What I like most about her work is her exploration and ambitious use of materials: skateboard decks, concrete, spray paint, enamel, plastic, wood, steel...Her combination of the unusual with the traditional makes the viewer take a closer look and think twice.

concrete, faux gold leaf

enamel, glass decals

steel, cement, garnets

plastic, concrete

ebony piano keys, sterling inlay, cement

Thanks for reading.