Tom Wesselmann

Tom Wesselmann was a popular pop artist and cartoonist. He spent many years of his life repurposing popular imagery within his own colourful works. Wesselmann took elements of city life that were both sensual and practical. He viewed pop culture objects as exclusively visual elements and used them in his own work purely as containers of colour. Therefore, he could almost get away with copying famous artworks, as he would translate and hide them within his composition. He discovered how to draw with steel in 1983 whilst trying to broaden his usage of materials. This blurs the boundaries between sculpture and drawing.

^^ referenced from www.westwoodgallery.com/tom-wesselman

I came across the work of Wesselmann accidentally and nothing directly connected to me until I read that the 'paintings', were in fact metal drawings, cut out from sheets of steel. This particularly struck me because for ages I had been actively avoiding the usage of the canvas when painting. The canvas is just so tame and submissive, for me, it doesn't add any meaning to the artwork. These steel drawings create so many questions as to what categorisation the piece has, it's individual and allows every single component to hold value. His style does not relate to my practice all that much but the pieces do as a whole, simply because of their indefinability.

I want a unique practice. I may not be actively trying to challenge the gallery space anymore but I do want thought and meaning to go into every component of my making and I want to be open to displaying my work uniquely.Utilising alternate materials within my art and therefore discovering new skills and trades adds so much more dedication to the art making process.