Tamara Natalie Madden

Tamara Natalie Madden (16 August 1975 – 4 November 2017) was a Jamaican-born painter and mixed-media artist working and living in the United States. Madden's paintings are allegories whose subjects are the people of the African diaspora.

Early life Madden was born in St. Andrew, In 1997 Madden became ill with IgA nephropathy.

Career After her solo exhibition in 2004, Madden relocated near Atlanta, Georgia.

Madden created images based on her memories of the people of her native Jamaica, placing them in high-status fabrics (raw silks, colorful satins, etc.), that mimicked those worn by royalty. Birds were a common theme in many of Madden's paintings, chosen as a personal symbol of her freedom from illness. Madden's influences were varied, and included Gustav Klimt, Milwaukee artist Ras Ammar Nsoroma, African royalty, Egypt, Asia, and the clothing worn by native African and Indian women. She chose to paint imagery that represented the people of the African diaspora.

"Similar to the works of Gustav Klimt, Madden clothes the goddess in a boldly patterned dress with clear ties to the arts and crafts movement and its populist underpinnings of advocating for art made by the people for the people. The unique quilting of the dress distinguishes the wearer while harkening to feelings of home and of natural, honest labor. Additionally, Madden's use of decadent colors and gold gives her subjects a life of indulgence that they never had."

Several of her pieces are in the collection of different departments at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee and also in the permanent collection of Alverno College in Milwaukee and the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History in Detroit. Her exhibition at Syracuse University in New York yielded a positive review from the Syracuse newspaper, The Post Standard. Upscale Magazine published by Bronner Bros., the Gleaner Company, The Huffington Post, and On-Verge | Alternative Art Criticism. In 2014, Madden was named as one of 40 black artists to watch by MSNBC's The Grio.

Madden's solo exhibition at the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust garnered positive feedback from local art critics and observers. Her exhibition entitled, Out of Many, One (the Jamaican motto) sought to expand the visual repertoire of viewers and their perceptions of Jamaica and its people. "Ms. Madden's recasting of the poor and neglected may remind an observer of Kehinde Wiley's regal portraits of inner-city black men, currently on exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum. What distinguishes Ms. Madden's work, however, is the specific focus on Jamaica." Madden's work was featured at Art Basel Miami with Mocada Museum and International Visions Gallery. In an interview with Okay Africa, Madden, and several other artists talked about the inspirations for their works.

Personal life Madden resided and worked in the Atlanta area and was a fine art professor at Spelman College. Two weeks after being diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, Madden died on November 4, 2017. She had one daughter. Her younger brother, Woolie Madden Jr.—a streamer, podcaster, and former member of the YouTube group Super Best Friends Play—honoured her death by getting a back tattoo based on her art.