back study 5-2-20 Print

Thomas is an English painter based in Asia. His visceral works utilize the human figure/head juxtaposed with abstract mark making. This is achieved through the application of thick impasto paint, dragging and smudging the surface plus the occasional intervention of the "˜happy accident' or chance. All these elements contribute in the process of making or building a painting. This abstract quality is further emphasized by deliberate close cropping of his subject. The works also acknowledge certain aspects of the existentialist premise that one cannot fully know or experience the reality of another person, and that this separateness underlies our daily consciousness, hence the cropping and fragmented surface facilitates a way as to express this experience , as only a part of the subject is revealed. Although the works are representational and figurative they intend to suggest, rather than depict an accurate observation of his subject. This is more apparent as the viewer approaches the work, the painted surface dissolves into a seemingly unorganized arrangement of blotches and irregular textures.