Join Tara for the opening of her solo exhibition, “Mining the Plastocene,” at Felix Kulpa Gallery in Santa Cruz on Friday, November 1, as part of First Friday Santa Cruz.
Tara de la Garza’s art finds beauty and meaning in discarded materials. As a sculptor and artist in residence at the Cubberley Artist Studio Program in Palo Alto, she approaches themes of environmental justice through visual storytelling. Tara began collecting plastics while pursuing a sustainable lifestyle and later found artistic potential in the often vibrant or semi-transparent commercial byproducts. Her work centers on both reuse and upcycling while inviting viewers to consider a future increasingly defined by the saturation of synthetic plastics. In de la Garza’s upcoming solo exhibition entitled “Mining the Plastocene,” opening on November 1, 2024, at Felix Kulpa Gallery in Santa Cruz, she continues to explore the inclusion of plastic within the sedimentary and archaeological record through the eyes of history. As part of this solo exhibition she will also host upcycling workshops and release a book showcasing the evolution of her work from collage to sculpture.
Tara’s artistic journey began at a magnet theater arts high school in Australia. She nurtured a passion for performance by studying film and television in college. The filmmaking process led to her love for computers, and she later spent a decade as a graphic designer, thriving on client projects but eventually yearning for a deeper artistic expression. She grappled with her message and intentions as she transitioned to fine art. She would experiment with various mediums, ultimately focusing on large-scale collages that explored humanity’s connection to the environment. A pivotal moment came when she encountered a haunting image of a dead albatross, its stomach full of plastic, which sparked a visceral response and prompted her to investigate the profound impacts of pollution.
Tara’s work resonates with sustainability and environmental advocacy. She credits the Australian sensibilities she grew up with for her belief that even one person can make a significant impact. In her youth, Tara saw people in her community of Fremantle, Western Australia working towards sustainability; composting, thrifting, and making do with what they had. Consciously or subconsciously, those experiences have inspired her current body of work.
In tandem with her solo artistic endeavors, Tara seeks to make tangible impacts through her nonprofit, Inventurous based in Palo Alto. Inventurous focuses on recycling plastic in innovative and community-oriented ways. The nonprofit aims to educate communities by taking in locally sourced plastic waste for creative reuse. A recent public art project facilitated by Inventurous used 3D printers to create papel picado from upcycled plastics in honor of Dia de los Muertos. These art-based community engagement initiatives open up conversations about where our waste goes and demonstrate circular economies and the potential for plastic waste.
In this conversation, Tara discusses finding her voice as an artist, the duality of plastic–its danger and potential, and the opportunity for one person to spark meaningful change.
Martha Sakellariou is a 49-year-old artist who began her journey earning multiple degrees from the Athens School of Fine Arts in Greece. She went on to obtain her MA in printmaking from the Royal College of Art in London. In 2005 she worked as the Creative and Art Program director for a climate change awareness program for Friends of the Earth, London. In 2013, her family moved to the Bay Area where she now holds a studio space as an independent visual artist with the Cubberley Artist Studio Program in Palo Alto.
Sakellariou’s work has strongly focused on the concept of home and the tensions, realities, mythologies, and allegories of everyday life—the rituals and relationships which shape what we consider our shelter. The shelter-in-place order has certainly challenged the process by which she composes her art, as the dynamics with family and her own internal dialogue reshape what “home” means. The concepts that had previously brewed and steeped internally have now played out in a myriad of forms, manifesting with new meanings. The very act of quarantining at home brings an unprecedented emotional toll, especially in the face of ongoing uncertainty. While intense, the situation has led Sakellariou to moments of profound creativity and learning opportunities. In her mind, reality is “a dichotomy—dream and nightmare scenarios overlapping—so I understood the significance of that moment not just empathetically but tautologically.”
“Nobody should direct what art should be, where it should take place, when and how and by whom it should be done.”_Martha Sakellariou
At the beginning of the pandemic, Sakellariou was in survival mode, shifting her attention to recalibrating home life and observing the world in transition. During her daily walks, however, her artistic instincts called to her, creating a need to communicate something significant. She came upon a serene and beautiful home, envisioning the image of a woman blowing a balloon projected onto the house. After introducing herself to the homeowner, she created a photo mural on the house of the woman inflating a balloon. “The balloon represents a bubble—a place of safety, protection, and containment, but also implies life in an echo chamber, isolated, disconnected from reality.” This beautiful overlay of realities speaks powerfully to many in their current situation. Even in isolation, Sakellariou has found a way to engage an audience and the wider world. She has since created a total of six temporary photomurals on various houses in her Palo Alto neighborhood, which just goes to show that art can be created anywhere. “Nobody should direct what art should be, where it should take place, when and how and by whom it should be done.”
