ART REVIEW

Tammara Ballard’s current sculpture is as disarming as a Bosch painting—both pretty and horrific—the polished mechanics of violence and war brought together as if in craft projects one might see on any coffee table in a middle class home—the odd nightmarish counterparts to silk flowers and plastic fruit. At first, I am surprised by their crazy appeal, immediately scrambling to find a foothold in my own experience. But Tammara’s pieces are not that easy to digest or forget. They go beyond the intellectual politeness of clever juxtaposition. Their real impact is that unfortunately I do finally recognize them—in my own ambiguous relationship to the blood and guts realities of daily news broadcasts that stream to me innocently enough on my radio, TV, and Internet. Ballard’s sculpture is like the best poetry—which leaves one reaching inside where there are no pre-packaged responses.

Alex Bigney—Artist, Author - "Talking to Tesla", UVU Adjunct Professor of Art