10:00am | Tomorrow, Saturday August 13th, Tamara Mason is presenting Blockade, a site specific installation at the Project Space gallery in the Angels Gate Cultural Center in San Pedro. The work developed from grants she received to partner with the Drum Barracks Civil War Museum in Wilmington.
Tamara: The gallery director, Isabelle Lutterodt, has a year long plan of partnering artists with a regional organization. Through imagery and installation, I have explored people and textures, vastness and intimacy.
Sander: The title of the show suggests things that separate or isolate us from each other. How does that manifest itself in the work?
Tamara: The exhibition is about barriers – seen and unseen, North vs. South, divisions in ourselves and with others. Photographs, some from the Drum Barracks Museum’s collection, some I shot, are suspended from the center of the Gallery. The Gallery is a long, narrow space. Every time I’ve been into the space, I’ve felt a slicing, chamber-like impression. I wanted to work with this.
When you first enter the Gallery you don’t see much. The photos are suspended so you only see black edges – no images. It almost seems as if nothing is there. The photos nearly divide the gallery in half. As the viewer goes around to the right or left the images reveal themselves. They show people, events, and textures relating from 150 years ago, when the Civil War started, to now.
Sander: Aside from photography, what other media are used?
Tamara: It’s primarily photography, which is not typical for me. My body of work has a focus on material exploration. When beginning my research for this exhibition, I kept seeing black and white photos. I was at Antietam Battlefield National Park in Maryland in May. Photography was new and ordinary citizens could see first hand the gruesome realities of war. The emotional power of the images there confirmed I had to go in this direction.
Sander: Can you speak a bit more about the practical aspects of the collaboration? How did that unfold?
Tamara: Susan Ogle, Director of Drum Barracks Civil War Museum, was my main contact at the Museum. She toured me around several times, let me have access to their museum, library, and image files. She loves the Museum. Her enthusiasm is contagious. The Board awarded me another grant (an Angels Gate first). I visited the Museum several times and was left to my own decisions and felt able to interpret. Initially I was thinking of my installation as a kind of a satellite museum, not a typical museum-style “interpret the facts, present the details in a chronological order” type of presentation, but similar. Drum Barracks was an Army post. By nature, it’s about order and structure. I wanted to take those ideas and interpret them.
Sander: You said that the museum was an Army post. From what era?
Tamara: 1861-1871. It was a 60-acre facility with officers quarters, cavalry and gardens. These soldiers ate well, including hunting in Palos Verdes. Los Angeles only had about 5000 inhabitants. Camp Drum was chosen to protect Union interest. There were many Southern sympathizers in Southern California.
Sander: That’s actually fascinating. One tends to think of the Civil War as having no direct connection to Southern California, but that’s clearly wrong!
Tamara: Yes, I was surprised to learn this as well. It was important to keep all of California in the Union. Drum Barracks trained soldiers fought in the Massachusettes Cavalry. Drum Barracks soldiers went to Arizona for a Civil War battle North of Tucson. A very long journey, but in wool?
This brings me to the only funny thing I’ve ever heard about with the Civil War. There was a Camel Experiment which was a test to see how camels did as a horse alternative in desert fighting situations. So there were camels in Southern California at Drum Barracks. There is an homage to the camel in the exhibition. It’s the only non-photography part of the installation. It’s an odd juxtaposition to all the sadness and pain of the Civil War.
Sander: How did you get involved in this project?
Tamara: I was at the right place at the right time. I met the gallery director, and she was looking for an artist, specifically a painter or graphic designer. I’m a graphic designer and art director. I have my own company, High Octane Creative, located in Long Beach. I asked if I could submit a proposal for the exhibition and grant. I did. It went from there. I submitted a proposal to Drum Barracks for a grant as well. I received my first grants for this exhibition. It’s been a good year.
Sander: You mentioned that photography is not your usual medium. What kind of work do you normally do?
Tamara: I’m primarily a sculptor. My work is abstract, and process focused. I’m influenced by Louise Bourgeois, Eva Hesse, and Richard Serra. My interest is in transforming ordinary materials into extraordinary, new, organic forms. I use wood glue, foil, branches, home improvement store finds and see what these materials can do when taken out of context.
I explore the taking and defining of space. I seek to understand the conflict humanity has with the natural. My work examines searching, longing, exploration, insatiability and need. In 2011, I had a solo exhibition at the Long Beach Public Library (Main) and have been in group exhibitions at Loft Galleries in San Pedro, Shoshana Wayne Gallery in Santa Monica, and PØST in Los Angeles. I also had a piece in SoundWalk 2009.
Sander: How long will your work be up?
Tamara: My exhibition is open until October 9. The Opening Reception is tomorrow, Saturday August 13th, from 1:30-5:00. There will be 3 bands. Another reception and food festival is on Saturday, September 10th.
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The Angels Gate Cultural Center is located at 3601 South Gaffey Street in San Pedro. Complete details about this and other exhibitions, artist residencies, and classes can be found at AngelsGateArt.org.
The Drum Barracks Civil War Museum is located at 1052 Banning Blvd. in Wilmington. Event listings and a virtual tour are available at DrumBarracks.org.