Tom Van Stone

Mixed Media

Tom Van Stone: "My nostalgia predates being an age that such was reasonable; I think it’s a byproduct of growing up the youngest of seven. My house was a jumble of mysterious objects from a past that I was not privy to. My parents and siblings had these histories of which I could only glean or invent from the artifacts I’d see all around me; they were not of a generation that spoke of such things. It’s where I lay the blame for me being something of a pack rat; I keep things, as most people, as small mementos, but for me they are often of times that I either did not participate in, or more frequently, did experience but do not understand.
The one thing that seems to string together through my years of art making is this fascination with the mundane things around me and a desire to elevate and share them through some concentrated examination. The “retro memes” and the photographs on slate both refer back to a series of small pieces I made at the beginning of my MFA some two decades ago when I was printing photographs on varying substrates - hoping perhaps that the energy that I perceived in the things I was working with would somehow imbue the photographs with that quality. To be frank, I remain ignorant of the nature of the quality I’m trying to elevate, which is what likely affords the interest in still doing them.
The pendant pieces also find their genesis in the scrutiny of the things around me - the first series of them being made from the multitudes of black walnuts that litter my lawn in the fall. The idea also comes from my partner Karin, who used one of them as a imprinting tool for her silver clay jewelry pieces; I’d pulled one from a pile of lumber when she was trying to find inspiration. Consequently, she credited me for inspiring for the pieces that followed. And yet, along with the use of the black walnuts themselves - it is through my conversations with her, and through watching her work that I have even contemplated making jewelry. It is something that has always seemed the exclusive purview of people with more precision, skill, and style than I could hope to muster. Turns out that making things for people to wear can be fun. And for that understanding and freedom, I am grateful. (Even if she still has more precision, skill, and style than I could ever hope to muster)"

Gallery

Tom Van Stone Mixed Media Slate Photograph