Tom Finland Spray Can 1 Sculpture

A Printmaker from the Midwest - Born in Cape Girardeau, Missouri in June of 1991. Studied at Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau, Missouri where he received his Bachelor's of Fine Arts with a specialization in Printmaking in 2014. Now currently pursuing his Master's of Fine Arts in Printmaking at the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas. Artist Statement -- Nearly a quarter of all hate crimes committed against the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) community involve some form of physical or sexual violence. Exploring themes of violence, loss and the dangers of domestic spaces, my work points to the fragility of life not just for sexual and racial minorities, but us all. While these crimes are on the decline, they are still happening and prevalent throughout the United States. Recently several hate crimes in which multiple gay men were attacked within a two month period around a neighborhood of Dallas, Texas caught the attention of the news. Having recently relocated to Texas, I was alarmed that gay men were being targeted due to their sexual orientation. Straddling the line between figuration and abstraction, my prints focus on an individual’s raw expression of defeat after or during specific hate crimes. Allowing the structure of the face to dissolve in the atmosphere of the print allows the viewer to reference the subject in the moment of an attack.