Tally Strachan
Instagram: @tallys_studio
Email: createdbytally@gmail.com
Tally Strachan’s practice considers the turbulent, high-octane imagery generated during a Formula One race event; aiming to evoke admiration and intimidation of these thunderous, brutal vehicles and the seemingly inhuman drivers that are able to command the obedience of these mechanical beasts.
Large canvases are governed by juxtaposing compositions, where outbursts of screaming vibrant colour bicker with violent imagery; dismembered cars are strewn across the race track, caught out by raw instances of consequence and failure. The audience is drawn into a conflict and confronted by what may appear on broadcasts as sleek, harmonious machines, rebelling against command, launching into the air at fatal speeds.
Strachan’s greatest influences come from LeRoy Neiman, whose garish colour palette simulated the pounding atmosphere experienced during sporting events that frequented his oeuvre; and the Futurists, producing artworks that transcend two dimensionality in favour of capturing an eternal dynamism.
It is an immense passion for Formula One and its intense brutality that drove her practice towards the pinnacle of motorsport. Rich tempo and dominating energy is vital to the artworks, inspiring the same daunting respect in the audience that Strachan felt watching her first race. Attractive hues are inescapable, demanding interaction across the gallery, reciprocating the potency of force and disaster generated during racing incidents.
‘Monaco’
Oil on Canvas
2025
135 x 105 cm
Monaco is a Formula One circuit that challenges even the greatest of drivers with its narrow streets that demand precision and excellence. Overtaking is difficult around the track, as found out by three drivers in 2024. They all walked away unscathed, but the same cannot be said of their vehicles that were violently disembowelled and sent screaming down the road. Strachan juxtaposes the brutality of this incident that had marshals and photographers ducking to avoid flying debris, with harmonious, vibrant colours that dissolve forms into abstract shapes that duck and dance across the canvas.
‘Halo’
Oil on Canvas
2025
300 x 150 cm
n 2014 during a rainy race in Suzuka, F1 driver Jules Bianchi slid off the road into a recovery vehicle that was on the track. He suffered a severe head injury that 9 months later took his life. This horrific accident was a catalyst for the creation of the Halo- a titanium protection device that became a mandatory part of Formula One cars in 2018. It sits above the driver's heads to deflect and absorb impact forces. The device was opposed by most drivers as it was ‘ugly’ and its central pylon that connects the device to the monocoque potentially obstructed vision.
At the start of the 2018 Belgian Grand Prix, a pile up into the first corner of the race lead to one car being projected over the top of another. In this situation, the Halo saved the life of Charles Leclerc, Bianchi’s Godson, as the other vehicle skimmed over his head. It is this incident that saw drivers begin to accept the halo as part of their racing toolkit and realise its importance for their safety during the races.
Strachan sought to capture and exaggerate the dramatic collision armed with a palette knife and ambition. The cars shatter before the audience, contradicting the upbeat colours that explode onto the canvas as a motor vehicle massacre plays out before their eyes.
‘Beat’
Oil on Canvas
2025
150 x 87 cm
‘Beat’ is a theatrical term for the pause before drama, the calm before the storm. At the 2022 British Grand Prix, an incident at the start of the race saw several cars collide, and one flipped over before skating all the way into the barrier and catch fencing. It is the scariest incident in recent Formula One history, and another one that lends praise to the Halo device.
Strachan presents the ‘beat’ of the action. One car is mid-rotation, frozen in place before crashing upside down onto the circuit. It is this suspension that aims to shock and unnerve the viewer, the artist creates a discomfort through unnatural hues and use of a palette knife to tease out 3d textures, she aims to make her work bodily and with presence- portraying the physicality of the incidents she illustrates.
‘The Phoenix’
Oil on Canvas
2025
100 x 60 cm
‘Up in smoke’
Oil on Canvas
2025
40 x 30 cm