The Gallery U- Self Portrait: Sept 3, 2015

“Never regret thy fall O Icarus of the fearless flight, for the greatest tragedy of them all is never to feel the burning light.”

(Oscar Wilde)

My name is Thomas Flynn and I am a seeker of the scorching color that hides in the murky evening waters. I paint images saddled equally with truth and illusion and as layered with visual complexity as it is with historical and personal perspective. I appear to acquire this perspective as I navigate a precarious path through life and through art, but in reality it’s all guess work. I’m just trying to do what resonates in my soul the most which often has little or no connection with my waking life. Recently, my work has focused on the subjective nature of truth and our transient perspective on it, something like a waking dream.

Strangely, I think the most effective way to create contemporary art is to simultaneously create art that is seeped deeply in practices with centuries of tradition while also creating art that is highly experimental and relevant. I think the best art lies somewhere between the two and can only be found by walking that line constantly.

I grew up in the distant reaches of the suburbs of Houston, playing in the trees and the mudpits left behind from a rapidly developed neighborhood. From this, the trees, the stars, the clouds, and especially the Moon, whisper to me the forgotten truths of life and leave me scouring the silence for their unspoken words. Everything I do, and everything I create is a meager reproduction of their memories.

I am not sure where the line is between art and life but I know that those who walk along the boundary are the happiest.

Thomas Flynn is a senior at the Savannah College of Art and Design studying Painting with a minor in Art History.

Find out more about Thomas on:

    www.thomasflynnii.com

Tags: scad, self-portrait, thomas, tj, week one