SWAIA ARTIST Profile

Tamara Bell

Name
Tamara Bell
Tribe
Haida
Main Classification
Diverse Arts
Classification #2
2-D
Classification #3

SWAIA Booth History

SFIM25
FR S 316
WIM24
17
SFIM24
FR S 316

SWAIA Highlight History

Featured in 2024
Read Here

2024 Award History

N/A
Portfolio Example & Artist Statement
Tamara Bell

For Tamara Rain Bell, everything begins with tobacco and sacred medicines. Harvesting sacred plants, marinating them in water, mixing them with acrylic paint and sometimes small amounts of sage and peyote initiates her creative process. Ms. Bell’s artistic preoccupation is with addressing historical moments in Indigenous history.Fond of combining unconventional materials, subject matter and composition, Ms. Bell's repurposing of dollar bills is a recurrent element in her body of work. Here, the altered dollar bills—on which one would normally expect to see a profile of Abraham Lincoln or Andrew Jackson, instead they are reimagined with powerful portraits of proud indigenous people. This is done with the express intent of making a vivid political statement about the historical relationship that Lincoln, Jackson or Grant had with Indigenous people. Painting a proud Indigenous matriarch over their portraits underscores the societal impact and legacy of his policies, and serves

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