Tammy Mackay
Tammy's work is often conceptualised as a series, most recently the “Rhinoceros” series, with “Goat” and “Love [loss] & Identity” before that. Her images are a personal exploration of themes, often a journey of feelings linked to an object, moment or past memory. Images have become both layered in process and layered in meaning. Having used traditional printmaking techniques since school, she is now experimenting with new techniques. She often uses photopolymer plates combined with hand drawn or hand coloured chine collé. Exploring and developing new techniques opens up new possibilities which she feels is essential to her development as an artist and printmaker. Animals and birds have become central to the themes and convey a subtle symbolism within their depiction. My dodo prints “Those Lost Forever”, “Gone but not Forgotten” and my goat print “Everlasting” were exhibited at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition in 2013, 2014 and 2015 consecutively. Her elephant print made the RA Summer Exhibition in 2019.
She grew up on a farm in the Eastern Cape of South Africa and studied printmaking at Rhodes University in South Africa. Although she now lives in the UK, her work still reflects the imagery of where she grew up. She continues to exhibit her work in both the UK and South Africa.