ARTISTS
Tom
Climent
Tom lives and works in Cork city. He studied painting in tne Crawfod College of Art and Design Ba Fine Art (honours) 1995,and an MA by research 2011. His work over the last twenty years has varied from painting figuratively, urban and landscapes subject matter, sometime referencing the history of painting.
His most recent work tends to focus on the creation of a structured space while investigating the boundaries between abstraction and representation. His acute use of colour and texture in his work is revealed subtlety as the viewer is drawn in closer. He has exhibited widely in Ireland and abroad and his work is in many public and private collections.
Artist Approach
Irish painter Tom Climent produces paintings of figurative, urban and landscape subjects, sometimes referencing the history of painting in his works. His most recent work tends to focus on the creation of a structured space, while investigating the boundaries between abstraction and representation. These investigations are performed using paint. As traces of memories and feelings accumulate and overlap on the canvas, construction and deconstruction become active tools in the creation of his paintings.
Referencing landscape, various types of structures and natural phenomena, the compositions range from the visually complex to simple basic structures. His manipulation of the materials, scale and weight of these structures obscures their basic properties and any identifiable purpose. His work touches on our relationship with the spatial, formal and emotional qualities of architecture. It suggests a narrative but never actually revealing what that might be.
His work process is largely intuitive, the act of painting for him starts a process of discovering unintended connections and relationships, of searching for reason and meaning in the unique situation that emerges. The first marks and structures create the environment for a process that requires him to constantly re-evaluate what’s important so he can find out what the painting will be.
