Thomas Hjelm

Thomas Hjelm began his artistic career due to a sports injury. Now his unique artworks, which combine the practices of painting and print making, are taking over the London art scene. As an aspiring curator of the London Grads Now. 21 show at the Saatchi Gallery, the artist is looking towards an exciting artistic season.

If you are interested in Thomas’s work, please visit his website or Instagram .

About:

Thomas Hjelm is a London born and raised artist, half Swedish, who always had a knack for the arts. His love for the arts really developed when he was seventeen, after two serious knee surgeries. His career in the sports was terminated and his artistic expression took over during the time spent at the art department at school.

After that Hjelm pursued a Foundation and Bachelor of Fine Arts at the Chelsea College of Arts, and just recently he finished his Masters at the Royal College of Art. His practice developed into creating mixed media pieces, applying both painterly and print making skills. He thinks that this synthesis is the perfect representation of the digital and physical worlds we occupy, balancing our existence within them.

HOLD ME CLOSER, Ashurst Art Prize Selection, 170 x 130cm, Inkjet, Paint + Fabric Dye on Linen.

The artist uses scanners and printers to translate his surroundings onto the artistic/painterly surface/canvas, and aims to incorporate ‘the screen’ into the physical viewership of an artwork. Hjelm tries to incorporate a sense of intimacy in his work, even if it is disconnected, as it often happens in the digital realm we occupy. He often draws from personal emotive experiences, embodying isolated narratives with/in his pieces. The use of text is heavily influenced by slogans and soundbites we interact with on a daily basis.

The largest influence on Thomas Hjelm’s artistic practice are scanners. He is obsessed with the flatness and distortions which appear during the process of scanning and printing. The immediacy with the item or subject at hand during the process of creating an image, is the pinnacle in his artistic practice.

REFRESHING, Inkjet and paint on linen, 170 x 130cm.

Currently the artist is working on a project with the Saatchi Gallery. He would be one of the curators of the London Grads Now. 21 show, which will open in November.

“It’s a huge honour to be entrusted with this responsibility. There are so many great graduating artists, I think this show is going to be something really special.”

Beyond working with the Saatchi Gallery, Thomas was awarded a residency with the Roman Road Gallery last summer. Having been away from his studio since the pandemic began, and deferring his final term at RCA, Hjelm was over the moon/extremely excited to be with a community in a focused environment. This opportunity gave him the inspiration to create his most recent pieces.