The Untied Knot, (installation with Stacia Verigin), papier mache, drywall compound, wax, wool, fur, naturally dyed wool, hand-felted wool, branches, sawdust, gesso, natural pigments, graphite, wire, screws, plaster bandage, hand-woven willow and reed

Saskatchewan artist Tamara Rusnak creates ecological installations that explore a variety of themes both concrete and esoteric. Tamara’s works often utilize organic forms with a sense of the surreal and alien.

Untitled (from On Tenter Hooks)

I enjoy the vaguely eerie sense in some of Tamara’s works. Her suggestions of figures, and the use of materials that could be biological or not produce a feeling of the uncanny valley. It’s difficult to pinpoint precise figures or references in these works, a fact which makes them all the more intriguing. I find that this sense is particularly evident is Tamara’s installation works, which combine a multitude of different media.

Tamara's portfolio website

Tamara’s 2014 series On Tenter Hooks uses a similar aesthetic language, though the installation utilizes an interesting blend of pale sparse color and spindly forms. It gives off an impression of bones, or dead branches, producing a cohesive visual that is both fascinating and imposing.

Untitled (from On Tenter Hooks)