Tom Hancocks

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Artist Biography

Tom Hancocks is a visual artist and designer based in New York. He works in both digital and physical mediums. His defining style of work is a clean and fluid style in which his subjects contain a sense of movement through the flowing nature Hancocks applies to them. In addition, he borrows a minimalist aesthetic where his subjects, in both his digital and physical pieces, exist in simple and often white spaces. The prolific use of color in Hancocks' subjects provide contrast and visually pop against the white backgrounds.

Digital Work

Wet Space (2014)

Unlike many digital artists who create their pieces and post them online, Hancocks' online pieces still seem to emulate a gallery space. Digital art that is posted on to the internet is free from the constraints of an institution, but Hancocks insists on placing his subjects in a space by creating the illusion of a room with walls and corners. By doing this, it may be difficult at first to discern whether or not the objects in his pieces exist in a physical form. However, as the viewer examines closer, the objects appear too perfect and smooth, giving away its artificiality.

Hancocks' digital also makes use of GIF images. Following his artistic style, the GIFs are clean and seamless and are usually infinite loops. His most elaborate GIF work is his piece Idle Self, an interactive space in which users navigate through a simulated house, with each room playing a GIF of an abstracted object.

Physical Work

Waiting Room (2013)

Hancocks' clean aesthetic is carried over into his physical work. In Waiting Room, he combines a live model with his too-perfect, digitally-created objects. The scenes are methodical and even uncomfortably perfected. In contrast to his digital work, Waiting Room is monotonous in color. The grey and white tones and metallic furniture give a sense of extreme frigidness.

References

Author

Kathleen Escanan, 2014