Primary Medium

Painting

Address

1155 Manhattan Ave
5th floor
Brooklyn, 11222

Artist Statement

I’ve been working on paintings inspired by nature and the world around me, but also by a general mood—both my own and something more shared that feels present in the air. They basically start from something real, but expand to something more symbolic and dreamlike. As I work on the formal qualities, I’m also thinking about what the images mean—sometimes personal, sometimes more universal. They speak of the relationship between us and the natural world: how it affects us, and how we affect it. Nature in these pictures becomes a stand-in for certain emotional states—fragility, instability, memory, and loss. I’ve settled on a relatively small scale, which lets me work at a steady pace—so I don’t spend too long on any one piece and can keep moving through the many ideas that come up. And equally importantly, I want them displayed together, in small or large grids — from two to a wall of 48. They relate and speak to each other — essentially creating another work. I have over 275 works in this ongoing series so far.

Links

Website: http://tomkoken.com
Instagram: @tomkokenart