IF YOU handed Tara Rowhani-Farid a paintbrush, blank canvas and paint 10 years ago, she would have given it back to you and said art “was not really her thing”.
Today, the former Millicent High School student, now 28, has been busy making her mark as an emerging artist and was recently announced as winner of an acquisitive state award.
Along with recognition of her talent, the Helpmann Graduate Exhibition Awards win has given her the opportunity to immerse herself in the creative process with a 12-month studio residency at ACE Open, a flagship contemporary art space in Adelaide’s central business district.
“The residency gives me a free studio space upstairs with ACE, which I can access whenever I need, as well as a studio program where I am provided with the opportunity to have studio visits with curators,” she said.
It is not a bad achievement for someone who said art was “absolutely not” something she had ever been interested in or passionate about.
Initially studying a Bachelor of Development Studies at university, Tara was unsure what she wanted to do until her mother came to the rescue and offered valuable advice.
“I just remember feeling really lost and seemingly without any aspirations in my early to mid-twenties and did not really know what I was doing,” Tara said.
“I wanted to do something, which would have some sort of positive effect on the earth and humanity.
“My mum suggested I study visual arts.
“She has been a teacher for a long time and she is really special in that she can see a person’s potential and their strengths.
“I figured I should listen to her advice and she was right.”
She enrolled in a Bachelor of Visual Art with a focus on painting after finding it difficult to return to her original studies following a battle with anxiety.
“I enjoyed the course so much I enrolled to study honours,” she said.
“I now understand there are different ways to make a positive impact and I like to tell myself that as an artist I am adding to the cultural economy of a place which is just as important as anything else.”
Tara said it was difficult to say where she finds inspiration because she often did not feel as though she is “inspired”.
“To me, painting is usually a challenge and hard work,” she said.
“It is often a lot of time spent on Photoshop playing around with different compositions and a lot of research in the way of looking at and engaging with the work of other artists.
“I will say that I do get a lot out of silly old things I liked when I was younger.
“Sometimes I use them to come up with colour schemes or narratives in what I’m making at the time.”
As for future aspirations, Tara said she would just like to continue to be able to paint.
“It would be really lovely to exhibit in the South East one day.
“The Riddoch Gallery is pretty special, but I am not quite to the level of showing there.
“Maybe in a few years.”
