Tom Veldman

Born in 1975 in Utrecht, the Netherlands. A lifetime of feeling 'different' and 'out of sync' with the world culminated in a diagnosis of Asperger's Syndrome. The diagnosis and subsequent information about the disorder made a lot of things fall into place. For the first time, I got advice that I could use, that pertained to 'me' and not just to a socially acceptable version of 'me'. Having no formal art education - I do have a Master's in Industrial Design, though, but the artistic merit of that is minimal - I suppose I could be considered an outsider artist.

Outsider Art is one of my current interests, mainly for its disruptive qualities. Otherwise, my inspiration lies in images that strike me for some reason, usually because it's a face. Faces (especially the eyes) fascinate me since I have so much trouble making sense of them when in 'live' contact. A portrait gives me a chance to study a face and its many subtle expressions at leisure. Painter-wise, I'm all for the Bacons, Freuds and Rothkos of this world (plus unknown artists I stumble upon).

Recently, advances in understanding myself and my condition have taken up most of my time (aside from trying to keep my day-to-day life on track), so I haven't been creating much. I...

Industrial design in Delft, Netherlands. My work has been exhibited in 2004 and 2005 during the festival 'Mooie Woorden' in Utrecht, The Netherlands. My graphic design (hobby) work sometimes gets featured on the Boomerang Cards website (create.boomerang.nl - all in Dutch).