Debut collection – Tamika Grant-Iramu + Designer Rugs
Designer Rugs and Design Addicts Platform are thrilled to share the debut rug collection from Meanjin/Brisbane-based artist Tamika Grant-Iramu. This striking collection incorporates Tamika’s signature organic patterns and imagery, and aims to include all communities of people through a universal connection to nature.
Inspired by her immediate environment of Meanjin/Brisbane and using relief print carving techniques, Tamika’s practice focuses on native and introduced flora, and highlights the minute details that are so often unnoticed. Her carving process corresponds to the strength and fluidity of the natural environment – each carved line represents a feeling, a memory, a relationship that emerges into something new.
Through her creative practice, Tamika explores her identity, seeking ways to connect with the different threads of her Papua New Guinean, European and Torres Strait Islander heritage. The carving techniques and storytelling aesthetics of Papua New Guinean and Torres Strait Islander culture are combined with the Western influences of Tamika’s upbringing. Tamika’s unique artistic style brings together diverse communities of people, and through this collection aims to highlight the rug as the celebratory heart of a gathering.
These rugs truly celebrate the details in nature that we often take for granted – the beauty and intricacy in the minutiae of the world around us. “It’s great to see my artworks turned into large-scale rugs as it brings forward intricate patterns of flora that might not always catch a viewer’s attention when viewing my artworks,” says Tamika.
This collection is the third collaboration between Designer Rugs and Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander artists, and also the first that can be fully customised in colour, shape and size. The skilled design team at Designer Rugs worked closely with Tamika on incorporating vibrant colour into her signature black and white prints.
“I spent time choosing colour palletes for each rug, some which were based off colours from existing plant life,” says Tamika. “The process of colour selection for this rug collection was challenging, however I am grateful for this as it is now a process I use for new artwork projects and am excited to continue creating artwork that is colourful.”
Consisting of two rectangular rugs and two round rugs, the collection is hand tufted in New Zealand wool with highlights of shimmering bamboo silk. These striking rugs are equally at home in modern residential spaces and large commercial spaces, and everything in between. All four designs can be custom sized, shaped and coloured to suit any interior.
Designer Rugs x Tamika Grant-Iramu collection is on display at Designer Rugs’ showrooms in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Auckland and online at Designer Rugs
