What does “Black Is A Color” represent?
First coated in black, the anonymous subjects in Tim Tadder’s portraits are cloaked with hypnotic swirls and thick drips of bright paint. To create the mesmerizing images, the Encinitas, California-based photographer and artist pours a mix of colors over his sitters and snaps a precisely-timed shot to capture each drop as it runs down their necks or splashes from their chins.
“There’s something about the human head, and the bald head, and the brain, and that way that everything is here,” Tadder says as he gestures toward his own face. “The soul is here.”
Tim Tadder’s art expresses the anxiety, uncertainty, and need for hope in an unprecedented period of world disruption. In the face of threats to our planet & our democracy, Tadder’s work juxtaposes comfort & consumption, foreboding & freedom, in order to make sense of the world as it is today.
When primary colors are mixed at equal parts, black is ultimately the precipitating color. During the process, an imperial display of tones appears in the swirling to mirror powerful structure & emotion from the subjects.
At a crucial time for the nation to unite, I hope this collection encourages empathy, unity & a non-binary view of race. Black is a color challenges one to see past profiling & foresee the beauty that is capable of elevating the human experience. Black is a color demands that we look past skin tone, & into beautiful, infinitely complex humans.
Explore more of the artist’s textured, multi-media works on Behance and Instagram.
