Artist Statement:

These paintings are likely to give you the impression of a puzzle, or allow you to travel around them like a map. As you navigate the surface, you will get a better understanding of how the different areas fit together to form a complete image and boost a state of mind. Maybe it will inspire an impulse to try something yourself. The treatment of the paintings is like the soundtrack to a movie. In a similar way, the film composer gives life to enhance the subject of a movie. My interest lies in what kind of character and personality I can bring to the subject.
For these works, I lean into the subject of stage performance. I find the performers’ presence very complicated as they wrestle to deliver their music or acting. The toll it takes on their faces and body gestures is a constant draw.
All aspects of my life have contributed to making these paintings. They bridge three decades of reinventing a wheel that doesn’t stop turning.

Artist Bio:

From an early age, Tom Skelly’s interest in the arts did not veer off track. It has been a fountainhead for a spacious body of work. Skelly was born and raised in St. Louis Missouri. His family moved to California when he was fifteen. After high school, he was drafted into the army. After being discharged, he went to art school. Upon graduating, he began exhibiting and hosting a weekly three-hour radio program. He considers himself fortunate to have been offered the opportunity to design and implement a multi-arts program at the Chino prison followed by teaching at UCLA for the next six years. In 2017, Skelly moved to Portland to reunite with family members while continuing his studio art endeavors, as well as hosting his signature movie music and soundtrack radio program, The Sound of Pictures at XRAY.FM, on Sunday mornings from 8-9.

Artist contacts:

Website: www.tomskelly.com

Instagram: @tom_skelly_arts

Email: tomskellyarts@gmail.com