Tatjana Este is a multi-disciplinary artist working with installation, drawing, painting, sculpture and performance. Este's visual narratives explore themes centred on psychology and hidden complexities of human nature within cultural, socio-political and personal conditions, through embodied, labour intensive approaches to her chosen mediums - both traditional and contemporary. The works developed by Este often implicate the viewer as either active participant or by immersing the viewer in large-scale installations. The scope of Este’s work reflects the deep enquiry into her own inner sense of emotion and sensibility, and acts as a cathartic remedy to underlying social and psychological conditions the artist perceives to be at play in spatial and social contexts.
Born in the former Yugoslavia, Este’s work continues to be embedded in folklore, storytelling and her own personal history. This is reflected in the presence of allegorical and narrative elements pervading her installations. Her work recurrently employs a refined, bold and elegant visuality that is often underlain by a latent violence, a disquieting quality expressed through tethering and her choice of materials. The duality implicit to Este’s work operates on various metaphorical, emotional and conceptual levels to generate complex spaces that consider history, time and psychological states.
Tatjana Este completed a Master of Fine Arts (Hons) from Elam School of Fine Arts, Auckland University, New Zealand in 2005 and has exhibited internationally in Australia, New Zealand, Italy and Serbia. She has been included in numerous group exhibitions and has undertaken 15 solo projects. Recent solo exhibitions include: The Gathering, Assembly Point, Melbourne (2020); Unfold, Counihan Gallery, Melbourne (2019); Blueming II, a major installation commissioned for the Biennale of Australian Art, Ballarat (2018); Bound, Gallery Reflektor, Centre for Visual Arts, Uzice, Serbia (2017); Blooms Of Hesperides, Rubicon ARI, Melbourne (2016). In 2018 Este won Biennale of Australian Art BOAA Blue Award. She was a finalist in a significant, biennial Hazelhurst Art on Paper Award in 2021 and 2019. In 2020 Este was a recipient of City of Melbourne Arts Grant. She has held artist residencies at River Studios, City of Melbourne Creative spaces program and Centre for Visual Arts, Uzice, Serbia. Her work has been acquired by a range of private and public collections throughout the world.