Artist Statement
Currently my work is about the alienation of youth, young people and their detachment from society. I have grown up with the young people that I am painting for many years and I have seen them change from children to something else. They no longer possess a place in society anymore. They are no longer children; children now play where they once did. They can’t be classed as adults either, they are stuck in between. They are on the edge of society; they are ‘in limbo’. My work depicts their isolation and addresses their position; it puts them at the forefront where as usually they are ignored. My work is also about revisiting past experience, a lot of young people have been in their position at some stage in their lives. I simply depict what we have overlooked, their isolation.
The urban environment and the people who dwell there have a major influence on my work. I work primarily as a figure painter and have always been depicting the people around me and the streets where they come from. I am inspired to create by the people I meet; I want to depict them and their position in society. I see lots of places that evoke memories of past experiences; these places inspire me to create a painting. My first step is to record these places by photographing them. I will regularly photograph people many times to try and capture them in a moment where they forget I am there and are lost in their own thoughts. It is of great importance for me to capture these moments as they are genuine, these are essential to my work. Once I have obtained images of people, alleyways and buildings that interest me I will then begin to draw compositions and ideas for paintings. It is on through a process of collage and combining different parts of each photograph together and constant editing that I will come to my final idea for a painting.
My paintings are mixed media pieces; they are a combination of screen print and oil paint. I like the way screen printing and painting combine. Initially I was just painting the images but found what made the original composition work often got lost in translation. The reason why I screen print the images are because I find it is the best way to capture the power of the original composition. I print the images of the environment directly onto the canvas. The creativity is in constructing the environment, once it is printed on to the canvas I am then free to concentrate on capturing the figure.
When painting my subjects I am constantly changing colour in the face, the palette for flesh. I therefore refer to artists such as Jenny Saville a lot when I am painting the figure. Her expressive brushstrokes and vibrant use of colour is very powerful. This is something I would like to achieve in my own work. It is because of Jenny Saville I have learnt that there are infintly greater possibilities in modelling through warm and cool to colour. By studying her paintings I have improved my own painting technique and gained a greater understanding of colour.
Another painter whose work influences me is Justin Mortimer. He creates vast worlds but often distorts his figures. I find the effects he achieves very intriguing. I try to incorporate some of this distortion into my own work, sometimes using cellouse thinner to break down the figures in my composition. Justin Mortimer also makes ideas for his painting by collaging photographs. He visits specific places selected for their beauty associated with their systematic neglect. This idea of neglect has influenced my own work as the subjects that I paint are on the edge of society. He uses very unusual colours when translating his compositional collages to paint; I have incorporated this in my own work.
In my painting I have broken my own rules of representation and taken risks pushing the boundaries of my practice. I create environments with lots of different perspectives. At first glance it may seem normal but at closer inspection is anything but normal. Edouard Manet is an artist whom I also greatly admire and he was a pioneer of this technique. His paintings have been described as;
“Plain as well as paradoxical, fixed as well as shifting, they lack an order as opposed to proclaiming the end of order as the great new thing.” T.J Clark, the Painting of Modern Life. pp203
The environments in my paintings are like this and they are created solely for my figures and for no one else. It is an environment which they must temporarily dwell, haunting the street like ghosts until the day comes to take their place back in society again.
Many of Manets’ subjects are confined to the edges of society, often isolated and lost, struggling to find an identity, such as his famous ‘Absinthe Drinker’(above), they are much like the figures in my own work. I want my show to depict their search to find their place again, they are lost, and they are overlooked, ignored banished to the edge of society. Maybe they have fallen right out of it altogether. I have entered their world; it is what is in their heads that is important to me. In my work I want the viewer to recognise their struggle for identity and therefore give them back what they have lost, a place in society.
Shows and Exhibitions
July 2009 – ‘ Moments in time Exhibition ’ in La Boca Restaurant.
July 2009 – Exhibited work in Canvas Gallery, Stranmillis.
June 2009 – University of Ulster Degree show.
2006- Group show in the Context Gallery, Derry City
2006- Group show in the Shantallow Library
2005- Group show in the Shantallow Library
Awards
June 2009 – Winner of the Carson McDowell Award for Painting.
Commissions
'The Road' - The John Hewitt Bar, Belfast
'Boy at Sunset' - La Boca Restaurant, Belfast
'Girl on Beach' - Sandinos Bar, Derry
'Caveman' - Carson Mc Dowells Law Firm, Belfast
Qualifications
University of Ulster, Belfast campus
• 2006-09 BA(Hons) Fine and Applied art
Northwest Institute of Further and Higher Education
• 2004-06 HND Fine and Applied Art
University of Ulster, Belfast campus
• 2003-2004 Diploma in foundation studies Fine Art
Skills Profile
2008- ‘Portrait painting’ workshop, Lisburn Community centre
2008- Taught at St Columbs College, Professional Practice.
Employment Record
2009- Currently a Part time Lecturer at South West College, Enniskillen
Payment Details
Contact Details
447 carnhill estate,
Derry
Derry
Ireland
07708696508
tommylong12@gmail.com