Tam Giles was born in Lymington in 1930. In the 1940s she was sent to the USA sparking her awareness that led to her later artistic career. Following her return to England in the late 1940s she studied English Literature at London University and became interested in the broader arts. She was taught by Bernard Hailstone at Goldsmiths’ College of Art.

Her marriage to a diplomat in 1952 led to successive postings abroad to Iraq and then Uruguay where her serious art education began at the Ateliér Torres–García in Montevideo, from 1958–62. This had a profound effect on the direction of her art career. Later in the USA, from 1964–1968, she completed a master’s degree at George Washington University studying sculpture and painting and was influenced by the Washington colourist abstract school.

On her return to England, Tam taught at The Byam Shaw School of Art in London for 20 years from 1969, leading the abstract-conceptual workshops. She worked in two London studios ACAVA (1976-1997) and St. James’ Rd. studios (1997–2016). Over these years she not only guided many students who wanted to be artists but she worked on community arts projects and with local schools in conjunction with the Landscape and Arts Network, UK.

Tam’s personal work has developed in various disciplines, including large sculpture commissions, painting and printmaking which have featured in many exhibitions. Since her move to East Sussex in 2016 Tam has continued to explore her fundamental interest in rhythms, patterns and colour in a body of new works inspired by the surrounding landscape and the sea.

The exhibition is in two locations, HAF gallery and at the artist’s studio:

Woodhurst Lodge Studio
Address: Woodhurst Lodge, Ivyhouse Lane, Hastings, East Sussex TN35 4NN
Phone: 01424 257571
Studio open: 11.00am –1.00pm & 4.00 – 6.00pm, Tuesday to Sunday (or by arrangement).

A catalogue of the exhibition will be available for purchase.