about the work
In the face of ecological grief and urban encroachment, I have dedicated my work to preserving the changing landscape as a mirror to an internal world full of personal history. Through a blend of unique techniques and observations of color influenced by chronic aura migraines, I seek to create poignant artifacts of the landscape that serve as records of our time, weaving together threads of loss, exploration, nostalgia, and the delicate balance between truth and illusion in our ever-changing world.
I tend to view each painting created in nature as an active interaction with the natural world. I often will mix river waters, found clay, and natural pigments into the paint and onto the canvas, using found objects to scrape and manipulate the paint to reveal and obscure layers underneath. I work on flat canvases that have exposed torn edges – like a swatch taken from nature, threads hanging loose, its silhouette not exactly square. The tactile paintings dry slowly exposed to the night air, allowing the dew to keep the acrylic paint wet for hours. In this sense, my paintings become artifacts of the landscape and can preserve the specifics of a place and time via a distinctly human way of perceiving and experiencing nature. Recently, I’ve been incorporating shapes panels and natural wood to help add to this narrative in new ways.
My understanding of color comes from the direct observation of unique optical color observations that are omnipresent in my vision. I have experienced chronic aura migraines for the last 10 years which cause almost constant overlays of “afterimages” onto my field of vision. My paint handling emphasizes colorful mark making relying on gravity and chemistry to render observed and imagined abstracted landscapes and botanicals. There is always a tension between my colors, between what is “true” and what is “illusion”. The fact that my sight can illuminate time-based color relationships is not isolated from the fact that my sight is often filled with illusions and distortions of my field of vision.
Fueled by the urgency to document a world on the brink of change, each painting becomes a dynamic interaction with nature, embodying the collaboration between human intention and the unpredictable forces of the environment. In essence, my paintings become artifacts, not just of landscapes but of the intricate dance between human perception and the ever-evolving world around us.
CV
Based in Atlanta, GA
EDUCATION
2012-2016, B.F.A. Painting with minor Art History; Savannah College of Art and Design, Savannah, GA; graduated Magna Cum Laude
selected EXHIBITIONS
2024
Jones Carter Gallery, ArtFields; Lake City, SC (forthcoming)
MINT Gallery, Atlanta, GA; Blooming Perspectives curated by Brit Sade
Dalton Gallery at Agnes Scott, Decatur, GA; &yet again & again curated by Anna Carnes
Kai Lin Art, Atlanta, GA; The New South V curated by William Downs and Wesley Terpstra
2023
ZanZan Gallery, Asheville, NC; Cold Warmth
MINT Gallery, Atlanta, GA; Postcard Pinup
Graci Gallery, Marquette, Michigan; 7 x 7 Show
MINT Gallery, Atlanta, GA; Fresh Cut, curated show from MINT studio artists
The District Gallery, Knoxville, TN; 3rd Annual Big Tiny Show Exhibition
George Washington Carver Museum, Austin, TX; AST Group Exhibition organized by Big Medium
SOLO Vaughn Art Gallery, Austin, TX; To Catch the Sun Dreaming
Alexander Hall Gallery, Savannah, GA; SCAD Open Studio 2023, Featured Alumni
McLennon Pen Co Gallery, Austin, TX; Open Call Show
Coria Jacobs Gallery, Franklin, PA; Grand Opening
Two-Person Exhibition Studio Boudreaux, Austin, TX; Full Moon Cinco de Mayo
SOLO Vaughn Gallery, Austin, TX; Glance Happy Hour
Annmarie Sculpture Garden & Art Center, Solomons, MD; Breaking Ground: Art about the Earth, curated by Anna Davis
2022
SOLO ArtDirect Gallery, Austin, TX; Midnight Daydream
Austin Studio Tour Group Exhibition, Austin, TX; organized by Big Medium Vaughn Gallery, Austin, TX; Austin Studio Tour
Vaughn Gallery, Austin, TX; Heart of Nature, organized by Jolie Soiree
Art’s Council of Brazos Valley, College Station, TX; Staff Pick Series
Artspace111, Fort Worth, TX; Texas Now Online Showcase
500x Gallery, Dallas, TX; Hot and Sweaty 2022
Ro2 Gallery, Dallas, TX; CHAOS!8
BLK WHT GRY, San Antonio, TX; Loose Scraps
B-space Art House, New Braunfels, TX; Building Dreams
2021
Hardy and Nance Studios, Houston, TX; Season of the Self, curated by JJ Baker
SCAD Art Sales, Virtual, Open Studio Fall 2021
SOLO Musik Curatorial, Virtual Exhibition; The Lotus Eater
Visual Space, Virtual Gallery; Spring Exhibition 2021 SCAD Art Sales, Virtual, Open Studio Spring 2021
2020
Visual Space, Virtual Gallery; Autumn Exhibition 2020
Box Mobile Gallery, Ashville, NC; Inaugural Exhibition
500X Gallery, Dallas, TX; 2020 Expo juried by Letitia and Sedrick Huckaby
500X Gallery, Dallas, TX; Hot and Sweaty Virtual Exhibition
2019
500X Gallery, Dallas, TX; EXPO 2019 juried by Adrian Zuñiga
Craighead Green Gallery, Dallas, TX; New Texas Talent XXVI juried by Caleb Bell
2018
Goldmark Cultural Center, Dallas, TX; Rendevous curated by Meredith Cawley
2017
Greater Denton Arts Council, Denton, TX; Materials Hard + Soft
2016
Texas Art Asylum, Houston, TX; And the Horse You Rode in On
Welmont Gallery, Savannah, GA; Nepantla: a space in between
Non-Fiction Gallery, Savannah, GA; Proclivity
selected COLLECTIONS
Canva Corporate Office, Austin, TX; 2023
SCAD Permanent Collection, Savannah, GA; 2013, 2014, 2016, 2024
FELLOWSHIPS / HONORS / AWARDS
2024, SCAD Alumni Atelier Ambassador, Atlanta, GA
2022-2023, SCAD Painting Department Alumni Mentor, Savannah, GA
2021, Visionary Art Collective Artist Directory; New York, NY
2021, Visual Space platform’s inaugural artist; Cyprus
2017, Wax Casting Workshop sponsored by GDAC; Denton, TX
2016, Publication Fellow of Peripheral Vision Arts
2016, 6th Round of Artslant Prize for Sculpture
2016, Honorable Mention in B.F.A. Senior Painting Exhibition, Savannah, GA
PUBLICATIONS / BOOKS / PODCASTS
Issue 10, New Visionary Magazine, two page spread
Episode 5 - Palette Chats - podcast interview with Thomas Flynn II and Leah Grace Craig
Issue 8, New Visionary Magazine – selected by Victoria J Fry of Visionary Arts Collective
Volume 18, Friend of the Artist – selected by Jonathan Hoyt of Steve Turner Gallery
“In Plein Air”, published by Snap Collective Monoprint Book
Episode 22- The Ten Frame - A podcast for emerging artists
Episode 22- Don't Drink the Paint Water - with Lisa Horlander and her guest
Thomas Flynn II “The Lotus Eater”, self published book of poetry and artwork, April 2022
Glasstire, “Top Five: February 17, 2022”
New Visionary Magazine, featured on the back cover of Issue 1 Winter 2022
Visionary Arts Collective. “Artist feature and Artist Directory” January 2021
Visual Space. “Artist Feature and Interview” December 2020
Musik Curatorial. “Artist feature and interview” September 2020
Peripheral Vision Arts.” Madonnas, Oil Rigs, and Toothbrush Holders: The Sculpture of Thomas Flynn II”. Web. Interview with intro written by editor Scott Gleeson. 2017
Boston Accent Lit. “Artwork of Thomas Flynn II” Web. September 12th, 2016.
Savannah Art Informer. “Proclivity examines force of habit through painting, sculpture, video.” Review. Web. May 27th, 2016