Tamara Jaeger

As a child of two biology major parents, Tamara spent a great deal of time outdoors at parks and nature centers, while at home she was surrounded by a huge assortment of pets. Because of this, she has always found nature in general and animals in particular to be restorative and inspirational and this is reflected in most of her pieces. Her current work concentrates primarily on torn paper collage, linocut printmaking, oil painting, and 3D mixed media pieces. Her primary working style, which has been a mainstay throughout her career, focuses on combining numerous small fragments into a larger whole.  The ‘collage’ medium appeals to her not only because of the intricate, detailed working process, but also in a conceptual way: useless items—the catalogs, plastic bags, and other pieces of ‘trash’—obtain a greater meaning and become something more than they were before. Through this process, the ephemeral becomes permanent; the worthless becomes valuable. In a way, this transformation can be seen as mirroring a person’s personal journey through life: each small experience builds on previous experiences, eventually resulting in the depth and richness of a fully formed individual.