Meet the creator of vex & delight
Tamara is a working artist and designer, living and working in magical, inspirational, Topanga Canyon, with her husband, artist, Juan Rojas Aguilar, and their daughter.
First, an artist
Tamara Gould’s original artwork has always dealt with the stark dichotomies of strength and fragility, beauty and decay, structure and chaos, good and evil. Humanity, in other words.
Through her poetry, drawings and watercolors, she draws on the power of fairy tales, illuminated manuscripts, medieval religious art and literature – forms that bring to life the magic of concept and high ideals, reaching deep into our souls and igniting human imagination.
Her collage compositions work with themes concerning the natural course of life with its uncertainty, its unsettling and temperate beauty and vulnerability. She works with pieces of things that once had life – flowers, cotton, bones, butterflies... framing them in new structures.
A graduate in Fine Arts from UCLA, Tamara studied sculpture at l’Accademia di Belle Arti in Venice, Italy, and obtained her certificate of completion as part of the inaugural class of the Santa Monica College of Design, Art and Architecture.
And a designer
A creative visual communications specialist, Tamara Gould has more than thirty years of professional experience working as an art director, graphic designer, and fine artist. She founded her branding and graphic design company, Waking State Design always with the vision of creating meaningful, memorable designs and art that enrich our environment and contribute to human wellness.
She entered the realm of design and architecture with a unique perspective, founded in her comprehensive Fine Arts education at UCLA, her studies at l’Accademia di Belle Arti in Venice, Italy, and being a member of the inaugural class of the Santa Monica College of Design, Art and Architecture, as well as having had the privilege of working with some of the most esteemed design visionaries in the built environment of our time.
In 2003, she launched Waking State Design, a full-service, boutique design practice in Los Angeles, specializing in branding, publication design and signage and wayfinding. Research, open communication, intuition, and an organic process, are key to her work in the creation of meaningful visual languages that span across all media for her broad range of clients and projects. Tamara’s education and practice as an artist informs Waking State’s aesthetic, search for authenticity, and open-minded approach to every situation.
Her current work weaves together artistic and design elements into harmonious design solutions. She incorporates pencil drawing, oil and watercolor painting and the creation of collages and assemblages into her life at every opportunity.
