Tammy Kanat is a Melbourne-based fibre artist and weaver whose practice investigates colour, rhythm and balance. Having begun her career in the arts as a jewellery designer Kanat repurposes her understanding of harmony, colour and form into wool, silk and yarn. She approaches each work with a sense of curiosity and playfulness; allowing her intuition to guide her through each colour choice and each warp and weft. Her approach to weaving is intuitive and rhythmic, never forced, premeditated or contrived, thus imbuing a sense of body and rhythm into each work. As Kanat explains:
“I often find it's not until the work has finished, that I think, oh, that's what came out. That's what that may have been.”
Much of this approach stems from her unique beginning as an artist; having wanted a woven tapestry and not being able to find one, Kanat decided to make one herself. Through over a decade of experimentation, expression and evolution Kanat has developed her signature impressionistic approach to colour and texture. This development has been assisted by her commitment to further refining her knowledge and skills in weaving, participating in multiple courses at the Australian Tapestry Workshop. Empowered with this knowledge, Kanat has fearlessly challenged the binaries of weaving through her constant playful questioning of its limits.
Kanat’s practice is informed by her curiosity, wants and her willingness to experiment. Her work is constantly in flux; an unfolding narrative before her. Expanding over a range of formats, Kanat’s intricate and vibrant pieces flow between squares & rectangles and ovals & circles. She is innovative, as exemplified by her rounded hand-made copper looms which allow her practice to move past the once squared boundaries of tapestry and into more fluid and rounded forms. Her style is primarily informed by her internal world, using colour and movement as an act of contemplation. Nonetheless, Kanat draws on the creative influences and practices of artists Mark Rothko, Sheila Hicks, Hilma af Klint and Judith Scott. Their clear utilisation of colour and form alongside their distinctly meditative qualities resonate with both the practical and the aesthetic elements of Kanat’s methodology.
Since beginning her career as an artist, Kanat has exhibited extensively both nationally and internationally. Notable exhibitions include Circles of Life, at the National Gallery of Victoria Australia (Melbourne, Australia), 2020; Milan Design Week, (Milan, Italy) 2017; Design Files Open House, (Melbourne, Australia) 2017 and Sydney Contemporary, (Sydney, Australia) 2022. Alongside exhibiting, Kanat’s work is held in important national and international collections including the National Gallery of Victoria. Kanat was awarded the Richard Parker Award at Melbourne Art Fair in 2024.
