Design
Tamara Barrage
“Nucleus, part of SFERA: BOKJA x AISHTI’s collaboration at Aishti by the sea.
Image courtesy of: Tamara Barrage, photographed by: Carl Hallal
Tamara Barrage is a Lebanese artist based in Beirut; her unique approach and techniques are based upon her unconventional education path. Barrage graduated from Académie Libanaise des Beaux-Arts in 2011 with a Master’s degree in Product Design. Following, the artist studied at Design Academy Eindhoven where she received her Master’s degree in Contextual Design in 2014.
Second Skins vases
Image courtesy of: Tamara Barrage Photographed by: Marco Pinarelli
When Barrage returned to Lebanon after her time in Eindhoven, she started to relate her theoretical knowledge into practicality. Barrage began to explore different materials… particularly the substances’ tactile and sensory aspects.
Courtesy of Barrage’s web site, she employs a variety of differing techniques “to better articulate how forms and textures provoke senses, manipulate emotions and articulate memories.”
From 2016, a piece made from paper clay and pigments.
Image courtesy of: Tamara Barrage, photographed by: Maria and Mansour Dib
Over the past several years, Barrage has worked on exploring (courtesy of About Her) “shapes that become materials or materials that turn into shapes.” Oftentimes, her pieces display a sense of fragility and otherworldliness. It is the vessels’ unfamiliarity that somehow becomes familiar once studied in-depth.
Second Skins vase
Image courtesy of: Tamara Barrage Photographed by: Marco Pinarelli
Several years ago, Barrage debuted a limited edition of six vases that were part of an exhibition curated by Elizabeth Leriche for Maison & Objet Paris. Titled “Second Skins,” this collection originally debuted for Lebanon’s House of Today’s “Naked” exhibition.
Only twelve of each vase was produced making these pieces quite desirable. Each piece started off as a bare, resin vase… the second skin consisted of leather, threads, wood, metal, gold and silver leaf, or threads. Barrage explained (courtesy of a TL Magazine article written by Heini Lehtinen), “The combination of the theme and my curiosity for manipulating, exploring and experimenting with materials lead me to design the vases. Second Skins vases were born naked, lacking a clear, well-defined identity. Once covered, each will acquire an identity and a character with the material they host.”
In her family’s Austrian castle, Alice Stori Liechtenstein sits next to a statuesque Barrage candelabra.
Image courtesy of: The New York Times, photographed by: Lipp Zanschirm
Last summer, Barrage spent three weeks at a residency program in Hollenegg, Austria. The residency was supported by Lebanon’s House of Today and allowed Barrage to imagine a number of beautiful glass pieces that were produced by Studio Comploj.
Barrages pieces were part of “Ashes & Sand,” a design exhibition curated by Alice Stori Liechtenstein. Each summer, Alice turned her family’s Austrian castle into a center for art and design where lucky designers are invited to live on the premises and find inspiration within the castle’s 52 rooms. This year’s exhibition paid homage to ash and sand… the two materials that make up glass. Barrage’s candelabras were one of the show’s stars.
