Tom Sims

Cambridge

Originally from Kings Heath in Birmingham, I now work as a full time artist primarily in acrylic on a variety of supports from my studio in Ely, just north of Cambridge, I like to use bright, strong colours to communicate my ideas. My current work reflects my love of and inspiration from stained glass and mosaics. The images I create have, over time, become abstract in nature, and yet are defined by an observation of natural and organic forms in the landscape. Abstraction is experiencing the ‘absence of subject' or the 'freedom from subject'. This eliminates the ‘security' of a recognisable form or even a focal point, thus causing the viewer to involve their own imagination in resolving the image, declining the 'challenge' or, indeed creating their own interpretation. This approach also includes my titles which give little or no clue to my inspiration. Likewise the work itself comes from my sub-conscious, with little or no intention or planning, and I seldom know which direction the paint will flow from one day to the next. My works are intended to involve the viewer and I have tried to introduce an element of journey within them, with points of entry and departure. I try to reveal aesthetic appeal in unlikely places and ask the viewer to consider things otherwise ignored. I tend to work in 'threads', picking up on a whim. My current work has taken its inspiration from the landscape; rock pools, dunes, the ocean, moors, standing stones, cairns and old mining activity which has left its mark on and in the land, in this instance. With these works I have tried to create jewel like, colour saturated images filled with movement in order to entice the viewer in. My work changes when I feel an end to a creative path, signalling a desire to move on, either forward or even back. I work as I feel at any time refusing to be constrained by the concept of work 'evolving'. Not all of my current work can be found on this site at any one time as I am creating a portfolio of work for a future exhibition. More work can be found on impasto.co.uk.