Matthew Tom

Senior Thesis Art Exhibition

Matthew Tom
Wellesley, MA

ARTIST STATEMENT

As a circus performer walks on a ball, they must find balance while moving forward. This stock character has become a metaphor for my personal journey to find balance in my family structure after the passing of my father. Inspired by the figures of Picasso’s Rose Period, this series of life-size oil paintings imagines my family members as a troupe of characters in a traveling circus. These figures twist and cave-in on themselves, yet through the support of one another or self determination, stand tall. Caught between grief and performance, contortion and catharsis, the paintings are an attempt to find equilibrium in asymmetry.

I would like to give thanks to the faculty of the Art Department at Hamilton College, Chris Harrison, John Powell, and the Steven D. Smallen Memorial Fund, for without their support this project would not have happened.

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