ABOUT ME
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My name is Thomas James Dean and I am currently a mature working class student, and I am in my final year of my Fine Art degree at the university of East London. After finishing art college in 2007 I spent the next eleven years working in a variety of different jobs throughout the UK. I feel that from these varied jobs it has given me a very unique and grounded view of the world we live in. One of these jobs was a bin man, litter picker and clearing fly tipping for South Derbyshire County Council. During this time my eyes were truly opened to the amount of rubbish, recycling and illegal dumping actually happens. Not just in this country but the world as a whole.
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My artwork centres around this theme of saving the environment to conserve and help heal what we have left. At first my artwork started off by trying to blend ready-made plastic objects with traditional flower painting, by physically sticking plastic objects to the canvas like a vase and painting dead or dying flowers placed inside. From this my work has evolved into something more ambitious to better communicate my argument and embody the contradictions I am trying to hint at. Jumping between graphic outlines and softer more blended three dimensional rendering. Using plastic and floral arrangements inspired by Dutch still life, l used the juxtaposition of natural and man-made forms to symbolise the relationship between the cultural and the natural. Using harsh lighting my work takes on an ominous, dystopian twist carrying my theme of environmental disaster.
One of my favourite artists is the American flower painter Georgia O’Keeffe. I love the way she paints her flowers, big and vibrant. And how she wanted to show the rest of the world the real beauty of every individual flower and how most people just pass them by.
I hope after passing my degree I can finally make a career out of something I love doing more than anything else and how I can show other people my own emotions and passion, But also my love for the environment through my own art work.
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“ Nobody sees a flower – really – it is so small it takes time – we haven’t time – and to see takes time, like to have a friend takes time.”
Georgia O’Keeffe.
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