Collection: Tom Bartel

In Tom's words, "My work takes cues from a "shotgun blast" of influences ranging from antiquity to popular culture and is constructed to refer to both the body and also charged, stylized, surrogates for the body such as dolls, toys, and figurines. The questions that arise from this cultural mishmash fuel my creative practice. I am interested in both the fragmentation and simplification of human form, especially how this decision encourages, if not requires, the viewer to participate with the work. Furthermore, I use the human condition as a point of departure where themes related to gender, rites of passage, fertility and mortality are constant "threads" within my creative practice."  Tom currently is based in Athens, OH