Tom Vincent

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Introspection, 2021.

Blockprojects Gallery, Melbourne | Solo Exhibtion

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”These works have arisen from a way of looking and observing in an attempt to gain an understanding of the nature of myself and the place we find ourselves in. Experimentation and discovery are key drivers to my work, and these are experiences that occur not outside of my body but rather inside my head with my eyes closed as a type of thought experiment or consciousness exploration.

I have been aware of a constant of movement, a constant marching of the natural systems we inhabit most of my life. A cycle or rhythm that at its core is an oscillation between on and off, open and closed. A cycle that, as much as we like to think it, we are not removed from. Through observation of these movements and rhythms of the world I became increasingly aware of the importance of stillness. Seeking to find stillness in a continuous ocean of waves and current has helped me observe what I see both with my eyes open and closed, gaining an insight into my own true nature. These works are made from a point of introspection past what I think I am. The waking, walking, talking and painting human being I think I am. But rather from the point of view inside, underneath the movement and flow at a point of stillness.
by Tom Vincent.

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Holofractographic, 2017.

NKN Gallery, Melbourne | Solo Exhibtion

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Tom Vincent’s latest paintings continue investigations into the artist’s abiding interest in human transcendence. He has been struck by the ways in which certain key shapes have been employed by many ancient cultures across the planet as a means of opening up meditative states of consciousness.

The artist has brought this repetitive shape into his new series of paintings. The same shape can be found carved in stone lintels above Neolithic passage-grave sites, and also in shamanic cave paintings, which use the same geometric shape. The shape has been held as a central motif by many ancient and pre-modern cultures. It has been utilised across Europe, Asia and South America. The Mayans called it Hunab Ku. This shape has recently been announced to represent the structure of the vacuum - the shape of space itself. But many ancient cultures would go further and say that it is the core of all things: the mind of the universe - the ‘central sun’.

Vincent builds up the paintings with sprays and aerosol, resin and drawing
materials. He has an overall idea of the geometry involved, but not how the finishedpiece will eventually appear. In an appropriate nod to earthly forms, as well as transcendental states, the artist also uses crushed quartz crystal across the surface of the works. This substance has a long history as a component in early radio-sets - so, a poetic as well as a physical link to both aural and mental communication has been made.

All the paintings in this exhibition link ancient talismans of meditation - through the mediation of contemporary abstract painting. They strive for one particular goal - the accessing of a universal state of mind.
by Steve Cox

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