Tamar Mason lives and works in Mbombela, South Africa. From 1987 until 2002, she worked with rural women’s community projects. She set up her ceramic studio at the Fordburg Artists’ Studios, relocating to Mpumalanga in 2002, where she now spends most of her time stitching.
Mason’s work explores the complexity of rural life in South Africa, intertwining human and environmental concerns. Focused primarily on the history and landscapes of Mpumalanga, her works consider the impact of failing government services on local communities and the natural environment. They address enduring legacies of exploitation, championing the resilience, strength and diversity of those living in areas disproportionately affected by political corruption and ecological crisis.
Memorialising tensions of past and present, Mason hand-stitches and beads narrative objects onto thick black fabric more commonly used in the production of men’s suits, often placing loaded motifs against topographical arrangements. Mason crafts empowering and subversive narratives by working in a medium traditionally associated with women’s work, ornament and domesticity.
TAMAR MASON CV
1966 Born in Johannesburg, South Africa
Lives and works in Mbombela, South Africa
Education
1987 Painting Diploma, Scoula Lorenzo di Medici, Florence, Italy
1988-93 Bachelor of Arts, University of South Africa
Solo Exhibitions
2024 Seeing Shadows, Pippy Houldsworth Gallery, London
Group Exhibitions
2023 Now, Museu Inima De Paula, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
2022 Where cloudy waters collide…, Pippy Houldsworth Gallery, London, UK
TENX10: 100 artworks by women and gender-diverse artists, Wits Art Museum, Johannesburg, South Africa
2021 In Conversation, Everard Read Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
2019 Ampersand Foundation Award 21 Years Celebration, University of Johannesburg Art Gallery exhibition,
South Africa
2017 Rijswijk Textile Biennial, Museum Rijswijk, The Netherlands
2016-17 A Commitment to Peace, Love and Social Justice: Quilt Tributes to Desmond and Leah Tutu, South Africa
2015 Beadwork, Art and the Body. Dilo tse Dintse/Abundance, Wits Art Museum, Johannesburg, South Africa
2013 Advocacy Art for Human Rights, White River Art Gallery, Mpumalanga, South Africa
2012 Pointure, University of Johannesburg Art Gallery, South Africa
Make Make, White River Gallery, Mpumalanga, South Africa
2010 Embroideries, Artist’s Proof Studio, Johannesburg, South Africa
2007 Sharp, The Thompson Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
2006 Look, Penryn College, Nelspruit, South Africa
2004 Artists' Proof Studio portfolio of prints, Celebrating Ten Years of Democracy, Pretoria Art Gallery, and
Museum, South Africa
Bonolo Botshelo Fragile Art, Museum Africa, Newtown, South Africa
2003 An Odyssey in Print: Adventures in the Smithsonian Libraries, Washington, DC. USA
Exhibition of Women's Work, RAU Art Gallery, Gauteng, South Africa
2002 Insider/Outsider with Colbert Mashile, Art on Paper Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
African Earth, Museum Africa Johannesburg, South Africa
Miniatures, Spaza Art, Johannesburg, South Africa
2001 In the Bag, Fordsburg Artists Studios Exhibition, Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
Opening exhibition, Art on Paper, Melville, Johannesburg, South Africa
Ceramics and Engraved Cattle Horns, The Chelsea Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
Sacred Spaces, Theresa Lizamore Fine Art Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
The Art Salon, Rose Korber Fine Art, Camps Bay Hotel, Cape Town, South Africa
2000 Urban Futures, Bag Factory Exhibition, Johannesburg, South Africa
Altech Ceramics Biennial, Sandton Civic Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
1997 Bag Factory Exhibition, Mexican Embassy, Pretoria, South Africa
Commissions, Residencies
2016 Commission for the University of Mpumalanga, Mbombela, South Africa
2015 Commission for the University of Mpumalanga, Mbombela, South Africa
2005 Ampersand Foundation Fellowship, New York, NY
Commission for The Origins Centre, Wits University, Johannesburg, South Africa
2002 Commission for Johannesburg Stock Exchange, Johannesburg, South Africa
2000 Altech Ceramic Biannual Merit Award
Commission for Mpumalanga Legislative Assembly Wall, Mbombela, South Africa
Commission for Argil South Africa
Collections
Art Bank of South Africa, Bloemfontein, South Africa
School of the Art Institute of Chicago, IL, USA
Constitutional Art Collection, Johannesburg, South Africa
Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami, FL, USA
Jack Ginsburg Centre for Book Arts, Johannesburg, South Africa
Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Art Museum, Port Elizabeth, South Africa
Mpumalanga Legislature Collection, Mbombela, South Africa
Museu Inimá de Paula, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
Origins Centre, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
Smithsonian Institute, Washington, D.C., USA
The Robert Devereux Collection, UK
Wits Art Museum, University of the Witwatersrand, Gauteng, South Africa
University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA