Food for Thought

This series of work is the result of my fascination with the whimsical qualities of natural, in this case vegetable, forms. I am not interested in re-creating the exact likeness of the vegetables, but rather in appropriating their unique shapes and qualities as a springboard for creating visually unique art objects that allude to vessel function. (more…)

Most of my current work investigates the spiritual side of life. Ideas of duality and the resulting illusions caused by our concepts of duality is what I am striving to understand as well as our desire to achieve a balance in this world between positive and negative, light and dark, good and evil. I feel that my artwork is a loose allusion to an inner geography and I try to emphasis both the positive and negative aspects of my search for some spirituality in this life. The ritual of creating something is one thing that I love about making art, locating, sorting, classifying, research, deconstructing, constructing, It’s a mental, spiritual and physical process that helps create order for me. The breaking down of the theme or idea visually, and metaphorically, juxtaposing, manipulating and linking together objects and images that for me have symbolic power and emotion allowing me to investigate, condense and articulate an idea that eventually gets infused into an assemblage sculpture.

Website: http://tombacker8.com

Blog:  http://hebrides-storm.blogspot.com/

Email: backer8@verizon.net

Education

- California State University, Fullerton,
M.A., Creative Photography, 1994

- California State University, Long Beach,
B.F.A., Photography, 1991

- Orange Coast College, Costa Mesa, California
A.A. 1989

Here are my latest series of monoprints. As some of you know, for the past several years Bonsai has become a passion of mine.  I’ve enjoyed the art as “living sculpture” and as a Fine Artist I began incorporating them into my oeuvre of prints. 

These prints are from 'Artist Proofs' that come from developing the prints for production.  I keep the proofs then with watercolor and gouache I hand paint them.  I sell these at Bonsai shows and found that they are well received and add to the Bonsai communities appreciation of the art.

Hope you like them.