NEW WAVES

Tan Arlidge sees her work as a sculptor through the prism of life in and around Bondi.

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A background in fashion and visual merchandising was the precursor for Tan Arlidge's move into the creation of chic heat-shaped polymer sculptures. TELL US ABOUT YOURSELF I'm an artist born in Brisbane in 1987, now living in Sydney's Bondi with my husband and two beautiful, energetic boys. My career foundations were set in fashion, where I specialised in set design and creative visual merchandising for brands such as sass & bide, Christopher Esber and Alice McCall. DESCRIBE A TYPICAL WORKDAY Once I've dropped my sons to school at 8:30am, I get my morning takeaway coffee before heading to the studio by 9am. I tend to spend the first half hour wandering around and getting settled in with my materials and my diary, before I really get into the swing of things for the day ahead.

I am always simultaneously working on commission projects while developing new work, so it's a balance of past, present and future ideas. WHAT WAS THE CONCEPT FOR YOUR SPACE? As an independent artist, from the outset I knew I wanted a space that served as a gallery for clients to visit as well as being a working studio. My studio is also a sanctuary for my thoughts.