Tomas Downes (b. 1986)

Downes is interested in what it means to materially and mentally grasp an image, given the ontological ambiguity of representation whereby the image is both materially present and partaking of something other than itself. His sculptural pieces are based on images whose subject and material qualities are not transparent to the viewer, following complex procedures of assimilation that alienate it from its initial state. The resulting works are both sculpture and image: the integrity of the found image disintegrates after it has been enlarged, rephotographed and digitally manipulated, yet it remains tied to the strong, industrial form of the object in which it is embedded.

The non-specific presence of Downes’ objects is experienced as something akin to white noise. If their undisclosed nature and origins thwart the viewer’s ability to immediately read their meaning, they instead transmit something more indistinct that is picked up over time.

Tomas Downes was born in Birmingham in 1986. He graduated from the Royal Academy of Arts Schools in 2011, previously studying at Chelsea College of Art and Design.

Profile

Born: 1986

RA Schools student from 2008 to 2011

Gender: Male

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