Tate Harmer is a self-taught artist working in surrealism.
His work centers on the creation of creatures that embody innocence, emotion, skepticism, and awkwardness—figures that confront the viewer and invite questions rather than answers. Harmer disregards traditional technique, embracing mistakes and intuition as part of the process.
Building emotionally driven compositions. The work is unplanned and guided by instinct, music, and self-examination, with the resulting creatures serving as companions and reflections of internal states.
Statement:
Appearing out of darkness, as if in a dream, color-blocked characters confront us and allow our gaze to study the incongruent shapeshifters before our eyes.
Tate Harmer's work is a playground of psychological wonderments where antlers grow out of heads, flowers become eyelashes, birds and butterflies encircle the subject. The harshness of the background catapults the subject towards the viewer.
There is no denying its existence. Its confrontational nature is smoothed with playful colors and whimsical fantasies. Untrained in the fine arts, Harmer allows himself to not be bound by conventional subjects and processes. His outsider's approach in making fine art is refined in the presentation.
A dream, a nightmare, a story held on canvas or board.