Tara’s visit was another highlight of this class. I could never wrap my head around abstract painting and the reasoning behind all the little details in paintings. Tara’s paintings had that same style that I would just skip over whenever I visit exhibits at the Met. She was heavily influenced by Indian philosophy and the art of it, so there were many little details, intricate designs that permeated her paintings. There were many hidden people, animals, designs, houses, and nature throughout her works.

We were able to see how her paintings changed as she progressed in life, and the influences in her life. It was more engaging than having a tour around a museum and having the guide explain to you what was going on in the artist’s life at that point in time and what influenced the specific style, color, and technique of a painting. She was able to directly answer our questions and give us insight on what she was feeling and the different themes she was playing with for a sequence of paintings. Tara also explained a lot about the placement of her paintings and her thought process, which was better than just telling us why she placed a painting with more white space between two darker colored ones.

She said one thing that really stuck in my head when she answered Adrian’s question about the tree being on fire and his uncertainty whether that was the correct interpretation. Tara told the class “It is what you make of it”. Having a living artist give viewers agency on her work, allowing them to interpret it however they want even if it wasn’t her true intention gave me a lot of confidence to believe in my own interpretations of paintings, and art in general.

We were also able to ask her questions about pretty much anything; from the style she painted, to the symbols in her paintings, to her thought process. This transparency really helped relieve some of the stress I feel when I can’t understand a painting. She even offered her own uncertainty as a way to tell us that there really was no definite answer to anything.