Artist Profile: Tam
By the Bay Exhibition, Rose de Freycinet Gallery, 2026
Self-taught, and inspired by the Bay’s richly diverse fauna, Tam has pushed her exquisite cuttlefish bone carvings to an unprecedented scale for By the Bay.
An instinctively creative and ingenious maker, Tam discovered carving almost by accident when she found herself without drawing paper but with cuttlefish bone and whittling tools at hand. What began as a hobby quickly became a daily practice and an opportunity for meditative creativity.
Over time her initial experiments have evolved into increasingly detailed carvings, with By the Bay providing an opportunity to further refine her skills, the artist creating literally hundreds of renderings of local marine creatures, animals and birds over the course of the project development.
For the By the Bay exhibition Tam and I selected a mere sample of her best works, her installation quickly becoming a family affair with her partner and son assisting in the construction of custom display furniture to show them off. Alongside their intricate detail, the works reveal Tam’s formidable compositional skill and mastery of relief carving. While some of her works are embellished with watercolour paints to mimic the vivid colours of jellyfish and coral, the majority have been kept stark white, giving them a powerful presence against the dark walls of the
Rose de Freycinet Gallery.
Curated by Andrew Nicholls
Conceived by the Shark Bay World Heritage Discovery & Visitor Centre,
Installed by Andrew Nicholls and Aiyana Wright
Project Managed by Julia Fenny
Videography by: Michael Fletcher
Photography by: Ash Buchholz
This project is delivered by the Shire of Shark Bay, and made possible through the Regional Arts Venue Support program managed by Western Australian State Government.
