Tom Keukenmeester

Tom Keukenmeester, born in Adelaide is a contemporary Australian artist working in both traditional oil painting and ceramic sculpture. His work has been shown across Australia in galleries and exhibitions. Tom began his practice in 2014 and went on to study a Masters of Art History at The University of Melbourne and The University of Adelaide along with Drawing and Painting at Adelaide Central School of Art.

Tom's practice explores the cyclical nature of art and history - the beginning of time, the end of time and another time. Merging contemporary ceramics with traditional European style portraiture, Tom playfully conflates the ancient and the contemporary.

“I predominantly make figurative art, working in both traditional oil painting and ceramic sculpture. I represent my subjects from a cache of photos taken on my iPhone combined with my own memories and imagination. My work is heavily informed by art history and often intertwines contemporary societal and personal narratives. I begin my process by moulding the clay figures using only my hands and a knife. I rely mostly on instinct and imagination to guide their form. The process blends memories of childhood animations with those of more recent museum visits. Once fired, I arranged the sculptures and paint the figures how I imagine them existing, abstracting the landscape to create a dreamlike setting.”

Recently Tom's work has been selected as a finalist in the 2020 Fisher’s Ghost Art Prize, 2019 Kilgour Art Prize, 2019 & 2017 Royal South Australian Society of Arts Biennial Portrait Prize (Winning the 2017 RSASA award), 2017 Cliftons Art Prize, 2016 Fleurieu Art Prize, 2016 Loreto Star Portrait, 2015 Lethbridge Art Prize, the 2014 Cossack Art Prize and the 2014 Royal South Australian Society of Arts Youth Art Prize.