"Tom Risley makes art that has consistently been surprising and challenging.
Shaped by a quirky and wry vision..." Queensland Art Gallery
Tom Risley was an Artist who lived & worked in Herberton a small mining town in North Qld Australia.
Tom, a well estabilished artist is represented widely in Private Collections as well Regional, State & National Gallery Collections in Australia. He is also represented in overseas private collections also the Met in New York.
Tom had a great capacity to keep pursuing new ideas & surprising his audiences. His work has ranged from being quite raw & gestural, gradually evolving into the more sophisticated & contemplative work of the last several years, where the found material is less dominant in the composition, and in some series absent altogether.
His large welded steel abstract sculptures are also related to his enviroment.
Tom's work was always related to the environment he was in, be it internationally or locally, which spans from where he lived in Herberton - a small ex tin mining town in the Far North of Australia - to Western Queensland. His journeys took him from old disused dumps to the isolated east coast, from Cooktown to Cape York. Toms boat trips accompanied by his dogs, were very much part of his work, the time being spent enjoying the solitude, fishing & collecting material which may be used in future work. This solitude was very important for Tom, uninterrupted thinking time & recharging his batteries, thus enabling him to get a new series of work underway on his return home.
West Africa was a great source of inspiration also Isle of Capri in Italy to name a couple of places.
The death of Tom is a huge loss, not only of a great artist, but also a man who's intellect always inspired people & certainly gave one something to think about as his art always did. He is sadly missed by all walks of life.
