Alumni Stories - Tanad Williams
'I’ve been working in ‘Installation’ or ‘Sculpture’ since leaving college, and the past few years have seen my practice become almost exclusively collaborative. I’m currently working on a solo body of work and plan to use the (Fire Station) studio to develop that.'
Name: Tanad Aaron neé Williams
Graduation Year: 2012
Discipline: Visual Art
Location: Fire Station Artist Studios
.png)
Image: Courtesy the Tanad Williams & Andreas Kindler von Knobloch
What career path did you want to follow as a child?
I don’t remember. But whenever I started a new subject in school, I remember thinking, “Okay yeah, yeah, this is good - let’s do more of this,” and then the same thing would happen again when the next idea was introduced. I never really saw a problem with studying everything. In fact, I ended up studying subjects mostly by chance without any thought about a future profession.
Why did you decide to study at National College of Art & Design?
I wanted to study as many humanities as possible from Classics and English, to History and Psychology. But there didn’t seem to be a course broad enough to allow me to try them all. I ended up going for Art because I was assured by an older friend that there were no rules or dividing lines; and I thought I could have a go at all of the different disciplines through it. My secondary school art teacher was incredibly enthusiastic and positive about art, and they played a huge role in my decision.
You recently were awarded a Fire Station Studio. Tell us a little bit about your work and how you plan to use the Award?
I’ve been working in ‘Installation’ or ‘Sculpture’ since leaving college, and the past few years have seen my practice become almost exclusively collaborative. I’m currently working on a solo body of work and plan to use the studio to develop that. I’m also increasingly interested in Digital Space and specifically how badly designed it always is, and so want to bring that into my practice a little more too. I work with construction materials mostly, and Fire Station has a super range of facilities for large scale and materially ambitious work, which is hard to match in Dublin.
How did you hear about the Fire Station Studio Award opportunity and how do you keep up to date on other opportunities like this?
I first visited Fire Station just after leaving college. I sort of always had it in mind, but only recently felt it would suit my current practice. The Visual Artist (VAI) mailing list is a great way to stay on top of local things, but also, it’s a good idea to build a diary for dates and deadlines.
What is the one experience at National College of Art & Design that has informed you most in your career preparation and work to date?
It was my fourth year. Spending a year making work for a show, while at the same time having to publish and have an opinion on something - the combination of these two. I was lucky in finding the right teachers too.
If you were chatting with current NCAD students today what is the one piece of advice you would offer regarding their work?
To contact me; and meet up for a chat and ask questions.
Portfolio Links:
Follow NCAD
NCAD Twitter @NCAD_Dublin
NCAD Instagram @ncad_dublin
NCAD Facebook @NCAD.Dublin
