Thomas Hieronymus Towhey: Breaking out the Magic Monkey, a 40 Year Retrospective

For as long as I can remember, I have been creating in one form or another. I have always been intrigued by the psychological affect color, shape and space can have on the human mind. I am primarily a self-taught artist. I use the term self-taught loosely because I have, in fact, learned a great deal from other artists and people in many disciplines. Still, I think an artist must recognize his or her personal muse and have the nerve to follow it where ever it leads. I have come to understand creativity as a process void of ego, immersed in emotion and fueled by compulsion. Over time, the act of creating becomes as necessary as oxygen to an artist immersed in his or her work. I believe an artist must have the freedom to live in a fashion that enables full expression of his or her artistic vision. Solitude is my refuge, for I feel connected to something beyond the three dimensional world when I work. I know I am in my place, grounded in my work. I work on several paintings at a time. . . Almost all my paintings come from my own imagination. I rarely start a painting with a preconceived notion; however, on those occasions when I do, the original idea usually gives way to the act of painting as it opens new doors of perception.. During the creative process, much of the original work is destroyed in the process of reaching for a more accomplished painting. I consider a painting successful when it strikes a chord or triggers a response with a viewer, maybe touching a memory of the past or perhaps prompting a dream of the future. There is always more than meets the eye in my paintings. I have developed techniques using layers of transparent paint to create a subtext within a painting. Images reveal themselves to the viewer after time is spent looking at the painting. In one instance, I was phoned by a collector, who five years earlier had acquired one of my paintings.She was delighted to have just discovered a leprechaun in the lower left hand portion of her painting and hoped to find more surprises.  

A review of Tom's exhibition written by Dana Tindall from Aeqai can be found HERE