Thomas Flynn II

Thomas Flynn II is a multimedia artist working primarily with acrylic and traditional inks focusing on color relationships, the physical nature of dreams, and the sacredness within nature. His work has been included in the SCAD permanent collection, on the cover of the inaugural issue of New Visionary Magazine, featured as a directory artist on Visionary Arts Collective, featured artist on Musik Curatorial, and on other publications. He has exhibited in Texas, Georgia, and curated into virtual group and solo exhibitions internationally.  Flynn received a B.F.A. in painting and a minor in art history from the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) in 2016. Flynn is currently living and working in Austin, TX.

ARTIST STATEMENT:

“My work occupies a place between landscape and figurative painting. I’m painting the layers of entanglement between the mind’s eye and the landscape that the body finds itself in. In this landscape, memories and future apprehensions cross through the threshold of vision infusing the present with their intense and often overwhelming sights. I think that the acknowledgment of this tenuous mixture is a mystical and spiritual experience. The act of actively recognizing my mind’s attempts at rectifying the past, present, and future is the subject of my current work.

Formally, my work is built on color relationships and often utilizes botanical imagery to cement a specific place and time. The many layers are built up intuitively but usually start from a collage of images from nature or my daily life. In paint application, I shift between representation and color-blocked fields, referencing a disjointed narrative- something like a half-remembered dream. I am also drawn to bright contrasting colors that are influenced by ocular color theory, or how the eyes physically perceive color when information is lacking or delayed. Think of when you stand up too fast, or rub your eyes for too long – it is those star colors locked in the eyes that find their way into my work. It is my hope that my paintings can be seen as a representation of an inner journey, giving shape and form to the formless land of thought – ultimately searching for a space of shared connection through the examination of the environment and the things that inhabit that space.”