Tamara Bolesic
Asquith Girls High School
LIJEPA NASA
Painting
Watercolour on watercolour paper
Influenced by my heritage, my body of work uses watercolour to represent the weathered beauty of Croatian towns, the stories they tell and the society they help define. I particularly love these townscapes with their ordinariness enriched through colour, stonework and ornate details. My grandparents came from a humble Croatian background and my intention was to convey to the audience the common structures that shaped, and were shaped by, the lives of ordinary people. Homes and communal spaces remind us that history lies not only in grand monuments but also in everyday buildings that communicate the resilience of ordinary people.
My artmaking practice was influenced by the following books: World heritage sites in Croatia, M Domijan (ed); Cudesna Jugoslavija, M Filipovic, G Jokic (eds); Lijepa Nasa Hrvatska, D Zdunic.
Marker's Commentary
This body of work, Lijepa Nasa, presents an investigation into the interplay between architectural form and surface texture within the built environments of Croatia. Informed by familial and cultural experiences of place, the works capture fragments of towns and cities through deliberately cropped compositions. This selective framing isolates architectural details and weathered surfaces, revealing the effects of time, climate and human interaction. The use of watercolour paint enhances the fluidity and translucency of the imagery, allowing textures and surfaces to appear layered and organic. A considered warm colour palette intensifies the patina of aged materials, evoking atmosphere, memory and a sense of cultural continuity.
The body of work demonstrates a cohesive and resolved visual language, effectively synthesising material practice and conceptual intention. The use of watercolour contributes to the expressive rendering of texture, reinforcing the themes of impermanence and the passage of time. Strategic cropping establishes intimate viewpoints, encouraging sustained engagement with overlooked architectural details and reflecting a subjective, familial connection to place. The warm tonal palette operates both aesthetically and conceptually, unifying the series while amplifying ideas of memory and preservation. Overall, the work exhibits a sophisticated understanding of how materiality, composition and colour can communicate layered meanings, successfully conveying both familial connection and broader cultural narratives.