All Tomorrow's Parties with Tanja McMillan September 29 2024

Tanja McMillan grew up in Queensland, Australia. At the age of 12, she moved to Tāmaki Makaurau-Auckland with her mother and sister. Tanja's heritage is French Polynesian Tahitian, Hakka Chinese, Australian and NZ Pākehā, a rich tapestry whose vibrant threads pulse with energy; a heritage upon which Tanja often draws for inspiration.

Tanja's research is vast and eclectic, she is drawn to traditions and cultures which align with her belief that everything in the world contains a unique energy. Tanja also draws inspiration from mother nature, her own reflections and discoveries. The artist uses personification and anthropomorphic devices to translate this idea of the 'energy in everything' into her work.

Tanja's show All Tomorrow's Parties opens October 4.

Interview by Luke Rion. Images supplied by Tanja McMillan.

Hi Tanja, and welcome back to Outré! The title for your upcoming solo exhibition All Tomorrow’s Parties alludes to a connection to the Nico and Velvet Underground song. Can you tell us about the theme for this show?

The theme for the show is to do with fantastical beings. Nature guardians, spirit animals, and imaginary friends unseen to the human eye. I love how as children we are so in tune with our natural world and our imaginations untapped. It's fascinating when kids come up with their own imaginary friends. I didn't have a specific imaginary friend as a kid but I'd often dream up fantasy worlds and characters to interact with. I don't think I've ever really outgrown that. I was having a lot of difficulty coming up with a title for this show. As I was driving home one morning The Velvet Underground's 'All Tomorrow's Parties' track came on the radio. It felt like the perfect title to sum up this collection of work.

In your last interview with us you mentioned that you draw inspiration from family, identity, travel, environment and your love for Asia-Pacific arts and crafts. How have these influences changed or evolved over time and impacted your process?

All of these are life long inspirations for me and part of my daily surroundings. They definitely have an impact on what I tend to make - apart from travel, which I've not had the opportunity to do for sometime but hopefully again very soon! I always find travel to be the best medicine for birthing new ideas and seeing the world from a fresh new perspective. Working from home and being a full time mum affects how and what I make. I would say it's taught me to be more free and playful with my making, which is actually something I've always strived for - to lose control and seriousness in my practice. I'm not sure if this is something to do with getting older but I also feel really comfortable unleashing my full inner weirdo more than ever right now haha... so we'll see how that looks over time. Currently I'm feeling excited to work with other mediums like clay, photography, and moving image and explore how they will cross over into the work I've been making.

What attracts you to your process of making the work and pulls you back in? Is it the ASMR feedback of wet paint or ink across a canvas; an idea completely realised or something entirely different?

Haha , I can't say I'm an ASMR kinda girl! I do really enjoy planning and making an entire collection of work rather than individual pieces. I love the process of coming up with the initial concept and visualising how it will all come together in a space. Once I get started on the making and seeing the ideas come to life, I usually find it pretty easy to fall into a state of flow. It's really fun. It's like exploring and finding treasures along the way. When I'm at this point of deep making, good mistakes or unplanned directions take shape which fuels my creative drive and keeps me going.

Do you see your process of making work as a form of documentation or more as a state of self reflection?

I see it as both documentation and self exploration. I don't think either are intentional, but when I look back at what I've made through my career I can definitely see my work as being a journey of documentation and self exploration/reflection.

Describe your studio setup - is there something or some object that you find essential to your work space?

My studio is a small lean-to building that used to be the garden shed tacked onto the back of our house. We tidied up and converted into a bedroom for our son when he was younger... it works much better as an art studio. It's a great little spot to work out of, full of natural light and I get the whole back yard to stretch out and make mess in. There's not really anything I'm too precious about in here. I have my tool station full of paints, brushes and tools, my desk, computer, scanner, plan drawers for paper etc. I usually have a small space that is a bit like a shrine/vision board with trinkets, images and drawings I feel inspired by. I'm pretty adaptable with where I work. I'm happy in an empty room with some paper, ink and a brush. I'm a messy artist... less in the space is best for me.

Are you the type of artist to leave work unfinished in the studio eager to return the next day, or are you the sort to push to the end and beat that rising sun?

This depends entirely on the deadline - I can be both. I much prefer returning to the studio each day and allowing time to afford accidents or if I have a sudden urge to just paint over the entire thing and start again I can. If it's crunch time I will paint till the sun rises if need be. There's good things about not having ample time to complete stuff too; I think it really helps with not overthinking things too much, you kind of act more intuitively and directly which can be great.

Day to day, what really gets you in the mode to create and power through? Has this routine changed since the last time you showed with us?

Yes, it has changed. I've found exercise in the morning (weights/yoga or a huge walk) before I get into the studio to be the most significant life changing experience. I'm a procrastinator and working from home doesn't help that. I've always struggled to keep a focussed routine with set studio hours. After exercising first thing in the morning I can jump straight in the studio and be completely present and focussed in whatever I'm making.

Do you listen to music albums back to back while in the creative flow or are you sort of the person to get stuck into a podcast series?

I love both. I switch between music, audiobooks, and podcasts and sometimes TV series. I love Rick Rubin's podcast Tetragrammaton, always super inspiring and The Emerald by Joshua Michael Schrei is great. I listen to heaps of different music while I work, lately i've been listening to Valerie June's cover of 'Cosmic Dancer', Nicholas Britell soundtracks, Cate Le Bon, always Bjork, Al Green, Bonobo, dreamy Japanese ambient music - too many to list!

Thanks for taking the time to chat with us, Tanja! See you at the show!