Artist Bio

Tara Monnink calls Milwaukee home, though she grew up in a small town in the middle of nowhere in Ontario, Canada. She had an unconventional childhood that was filled with imagination, adventures and finding the magic in everyday life. She realized that this didn’t need to end after becoming an adult and after a year studying Interior Design and Architecture she moved to Japan and China to teach English for many years.  

During her years traveling and living abroad Tara was constantly challenged by new customs, learning new languages and realizing that with the right attitude you can fit in anywhere. Traveling to different cities or sites with any free time available allowed her to see an amazing amount of art, architecture, and history that would, as it turns out, continue to inspire her daily. 

A graduate of Alverno College with a degree in Studio Art, Tara is a papermaker, printmaker, and photographer who is on a constant mission to learn as much as she can about new materials and techniques. She is inspired by her childhood, her travels, science, maps, reading and nature. She is passionate about helping people, volunteering, and getting people involved and aware of the arts community in Milwaukee. 

Artist Statement

Paper, as strange as it sounds, has a memory. It remembers a time when it was part of one beautiful being prior to being broken down into fibers, and it remembers that bond when being reformed into sheets. It is affected by the weather, it remembers where it was first laid down after being formed, it accepts new materials added to it, but reacts differently to each. It is so strong but can be ruined by a single drop of water.

Paper is one of the most important inventions in history, and it remains a powerful tool in the modern world. It is so simple, yet each piece of paper holds endless possibilities as to what it can hold. Each piece of paper is a journey from beginning to end and everything that touches it becomes part of it. Every sheet of paper is a keeper of memories, as it becomes its own creative landscape.