Featured Artist Tjaša Rener

Artist Tjaša Rener uses printmaking, paint and found materials to create mixed media works that focus on daily life in Africa. Learn more by visiting her website.

 

 

As an artist, I base my work on the rich artistic heritage of twentieth-century modernism, which continues by combining two art techniques—painting and printing. Yet, unlike modernist iconoclasm, I chose the human figure as the central motif of my work.

 

 

Despite the distinctly post-humanist time we live in today, I placed my chosen subject right in the centre. As an artist, I am very interested in the process of creating and I desire to transcend boundaries in search of something new. Through learning and processes, exploration of mediums, ritual and life experiences—I create.

 

 

My paintings are large scale collages where I play with material such as newspaper, digital photos, heat transfer, xerox, decorative paper, recycled material, acrylic paint and finally, screen printed layers.

 

 

My practice is a search through mediums, to refine my artistic process for growth. I am at my best when adapting and exploring the technical and intellectual elements within the process.

 

 

Due to my techniques, my paintings are methodically planned out and built up slowly. It takes approximately one month to complete a single piece.

 

 

My background in fashion helps me with my cut outs and reverse thinking. It also benefits me with a good idea of how to combine and join together all the different materials.

 

 

Typically, screen printing is used to produce an unlimited number of copies. However, in the case of my work, each graphic is only printed once. I rip reproduction from the clutches of hyperproduction and turn them into unique works of art.

 

 

The focus of my artwork is the people who surround me in my daily life.

 

 

Allowing my life experiences to be part of the creative process is essential to this type of work. My art is very much connected to the country I choose to live in. I moved from my home country of Slovenia to live in Ghana, West Africa, almost seven years ago.

 

 

As a foreigner, and as an artist, I am fascinated by situations or moments that are less familiar to me. Though the process remains the foundation of my artistic expression, the content of my work is influenced by the everyday lives of people in Ghana and the relationship of home, family and society in this region. Economic discrepancies, people’s attitudes towards rapidly developing technology, and increasingly excessive consumption influence my thinking and subsequently, my art.

 

Artist Tjaša Rener invites you to follow her on Instagram, Facebook and Foundwork.

 

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