THOMPSONSPF10RESEARCH

“My work mines the debris of memory through the creation of intricate worlds sculpted in 1:43 scale and smaller. Often sealed under glass, the works depict the remnants of things past—whether major, transformational experiences, or the quieter moments that resonate loudly throughout a life. In much the way the mind recalls events through the fog of time, the works distort reality through a warped and dreamlike lens.

The pieces’ radically reduced scales evoke feelings of omnipotence—as well as the visceral sensation of unbidden memory recall. Hovering above the glass, the viewer approaches these worlds as an all-seeing eye, looking down upon landscapes that dwarf and threaten the figures within.

Conversely, the private intensity of moments rendered in such a small scale draws the viewer in, allowing for the intimacy one might feel peering into a museum display case or dollhouse. Though surrounded by chaos, hazard, and longing, the figures’ faces betray little emotion, inviting viewers to lose themselves in these crucibles—and in the jumble of feelings and memories they elicit.

The glass itself contains and compresses the world within it, seeming to suspend time itself—with all its accompanying anguish, fear, and bliss. By sealing the works in this fashion, I hope to distill the debris of human experience down to single, fragile moments. Like blackboxes bobbing in the flotsam, these works wait for discovery, each an indelible record of human memory.”

“Info” Thomas Doyle. Mar 2011 <http://www.thomasdoyle.net/info.htm>.

“The encapsulation of your mysterious scenarios creates a suspended moment of human memory, which we experience from a godlike perspective, safely outside the volatile emotional atmosphere contained within the glass. In some ways, your work brings to mind Sylvia Plath's autobiographical novel The Bell Jar, in which the dichotomy between individual aspirations and the expectations of others results in the narrator's metaphorical entrapment in an airless dome of depression and despair. Do you ever think of your domes as vacuum chambers – perhaps ones out of which time has been sucked, rather than matter?” – Robert Smithson

“Time is a prominent component of the pieces displayed under domes. The glass seals the scene as it is, and in doing so it arrests motion and puts the focus on the present. There is often crucial information missing in the works — the action that comes before and after the scene has been stripped away, leaving you with a small piece of the narrative. I mentioned earlier that I always had the experience, while looking at museum displays, that the figures were about to come to life. I attribute a lot of this to the glass, which adds an element of suspension, as if you were viewing live creatures in a terrarium or aquarium that has been momentarily frozen in time.” – Thomas Doyle

Artist Interview:

Artist Website:

http://www.thomasdoyle.net/

Artist Representation:

None