Born in 1958, New Zealand artist Ross Tamlin is renowned for his unique and captivating signature corrugated iron paintings. He received formal training at TAFE NSW Meadowbank in Meadowbank, Australia, where he pursued a Fine Arts Certificate course, followed by a graphic arts course in Brisbane, Australia, before returning to Sydney to establish himself as a professional artist.
Tamlin's work is a brilliant fusion of traditional art genres, including still-life and landscape, and graphic art. Influenced by the De Stijl movement, his paintings represent a perfect amalgamation of art and function. Tamlin incorporates the aesthetics of modern industrial techniques to create the illusion of corrugation in his photorealistic compositions. His paintings are created by using layers of paint and varnish to achieve a three-dimensional effect that adds depth and texture to his artwork.
Color, industrial imagery, and objects play a central role in Tamlin's work. He is fascinated by the traditional appropriation of found objects in modern art and uses them in his compositions to reconstruct their purpose and function, revealing new relationships between the object and viewer. Tamlin's artwork is primarily characterized by bright colors, combined with primary hues overlaid with text and glazing, to produce his unique version of a landscape. His innovative use of text and familiar place names in his paintings creates a contemporary interpretation of landscape painting.