Tom Isaacs is a contemporary artist and curator working primarily in the fields of performance and textile art. His practice draws from psychoanalytic theory, philosophy, religious and ritual practices, and art history to explore themes of mental illness, mortality, and the human condition. He is currently a PhD candidate at Sydney College of the Arts, Sydney University, researching the relationship between ritual, psychoanalysis and body art, and how these different streams of thought address the problem of alienation. Recent exhibitions include: 'SEWNUP' at Lyttleton Stores curated by Fiona Davies in 2020; 'BLUE' at Blue Mountains Cultural Centre curated by Beata Geyer in 2020; and BLUE TOO at WAYOUT curated by Beata Geyer in 2021.
Notes from the Fall was a show of acrylic drawings at the Silver Spoon Gallery in Balmain, dealing with notions of falling and failure. The diagrams from the exhibition contrast various myths and ideas about falling in an investigation of the fundamentally broken nature of humanity. Hans/Icare compares the tragic death of the artist Bas … More Notes from the Fall
I have had long hair for more than two years. On Saturday evening I shaved it all off. Personally I felt it was long past time for a change. I was tired of the effort and inconvenience of having thick, curly, long hair. But now that the hair is gone I feel the possible repercussions … More Cut and Dried
I read Timequake by Kurt Vonnegut recently. It is definitely a strange book, but still quite enjoyable. One particular passage struck me as worth quoting. It is Kurt’s response to his brother’s question, “Art or not?” There are many good people who are beneficially stimulated by some, but not all, manmade arrangements of colours and … More Art or not?
I have a show! Notes from the Fall It’s on Tuesday, March 11 (from 6-11pm) at a student run gallery, the Silver Spoon. The address is 456 Darling St, Balmain, underneath the Cat and Fiddle Hotel. I’d love for you to come along and check it out.
I am planning an exhibition with my good friend Sach. Our works have some visual and conceptual similarities but also many differences. We are both performance and video oriented and our practices share concerns at times about art and life. His latest work is an attempt to physicalise a visceral reaction to the work of … More Relational Being
Tom Isaacs 