Tom Cartmill

Originally from Greater Manchester, I have spent much of my adult life overseas, with years in New Zealand and more recently, in Southern Spain and Sicily. My time in Southern Europe, where I became interested in the Moorish heritage, in particular the underlying philosophies and artistic principles, have been a major influence on my work. Now settled in the UK, I work from a farm-based studio, outside Reading in SE England, from where my sculptural drawings are gaining
increasing recognition.

My current work explores the possibilities offered by using a simple grid-form, with a monochrome palette of ink or pencil, on differing weights and finishes of cotton rag paper. As well as addressing the cultural heft of the modernist grid, my sculptural drawings ask questions of the practice of drawing itself, having a presence as ‘physical objects’, freed from the 2D flatness of traditional drawing on paper.

I exhibit widely and regularly, more notable exhibitions include the Derwent Art Prize (2016 & 2022), The Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh (2024, 2022, 2021 & 2020; The Royal West of England Academy, Bristol (2023, 2022, 2019, 2017 & 2016); The Royal Academy, London (2016 & 2017). In 2017, I won Rabley Gallery’s Editioning Prize, seeing the development and launch of a print edition at the London Original Print Fair at The Royal Academy of Arts, in 2018.