Tamara Dubnyckyj, 'Under the skirts

These paintings are part of an ongoing series exploring the drapery of garments, and the power of clothing to define a mood, relate to culture, or act formally within the pictorial space.

As part of her research, she visited ­a theatre costume and props warehouse. The packed rows of clothes, worn by different bodies over the decades, muffled the sounds. Dubnyckyj explored the corridors of cotton, crinoline hoops and netting, dresses of all eras, fibres full of stories, but empty of person.

She imagined the actors playing their parts, rehearsing to empty seats, entertaining full houses, hoops being fitted, bodies squeezed in, layers of make-up, and spot lit stages highlighting the drama.

Her eye catching the rhythms of the varying waistlines, the trims and embellishments on jostling sleeves, the pared down utility uniform, restricting boned Victorian undergarments, and the theatrical layers of the flamenco attire.

The characteristics of the garments emerge during the process of painting, where the handling of paint is used to create movement, tempo, depth, and sometimes a suggestion or trace of the body.

The cropped arranged garments may also represent more formal aspects of colour, shape and pattern within the paintings.

Biography

Tamara Dubnyckyj has an MA, Painting from the Royal College of Art, 2007 and a BA (Hons) Fine Art at Middlesex University. She lives and works in London.

Tamara was recently selected for the BayArt Open 2025, and the Beep Painting Prize. In 2024 she exhibited in group shows; Uncertain Objects, Part 1 in Somerset, A Room of One’s Own, Irving Gallery, Oxford and It Rose and it Fell, Terrace Gallery, London, and was selected for the ING Discerning Eye exhibition.

In 2023, she was selected RA Summer Exhibition and Wells Art Contemporary, A Generous Space 3, Huddersfield Art Gallery. She exhibited as part of Dungeness 5th Continent, Folkestone Art Gallery, and Stage, curated by LLE gallery, Kingsgate Project Space.

Previously, she has exhibited in many group shows and solo shows across the UK, Europe, and Columbia.