Sean Thomas

Sean Thomas' paintings focuses on the common surroundings of our modern culture; from sprawling industrial complexes and expressways to discarded plastic toys. He is fascinated with how the use of paint can manipulate the viewer’s perception of what is often deemed background noise, the mundane or even the ugly. Working with traditional materials and techniques (oil, watercolor, drawing), layers are created to evoke emotion, atmosphere and decay. Through extensive editing, which often involves reorganization and simplification of subject matter to suit a desired aesthetic, Sean’s compositions take shape and relationships are established. Some objects become monumental structures shrouded in soot and isolated while others may mesh and mingle with one another. Sean graduated from RISD and is the recipient of the RISCA 2009 Fellowship for painting.