More on the lost art of letters

Tara Badcock's postal theme work conjures up the romance of a lost era of letter writing. These sumptuous purses are available at the Bicheno Post Office Gallery in East Tasmania. The detail is to be marvelled at!

Tara Badcock's work caught my eye a few years ago and I keep that eye peeled for new work. More can be viewed on Tara Badcock's flickr photostream

Looking at her art is like waking from a time-travelling dream. Tara's use of hand stitched silks bring to mind colonial flags, hair ribbons, Marie Antoinette, old books and sailing ships. Her work seems to be steeped in the past yet through her use of free hand machine embroidery, she seems to be able to reconcile the past and present. She conjures elements of antiquities, treasures, museum display cabinets, Victorian nature collections and pages from antique encyclopedias.

There is something very Tasmanian about these works - and I'm not just talking about the addresses on the embroidered envelopes. Tasmania has a sense of history which seems more present than in other places. It seems as if the past is but a blink of an eye away. A shadow that has just passed over you. Something still resonating quietly. This can be good. It can be bad. It can be disturbing - for Tasmania's history, our history, is disturbing.

The kangaroo work above is part of a current joint exhibition with Simone Pfister entitled ARCADIA at Handmark Gallery in Evandale (Tasmania).

Tara has also created cushions based on 'Souvenir of (insert exotic place name)' postcards from the early 1900's, for the launch of Sydney stylist and author Sibella Court's new book NOMAD. Sybilla's website www.thesocietyinc.com.au is also worth a look!