Tom Watson in as emerging artist based in Brisbane, Queensland, who is currently in their final year studying a Bachelor of Education (Secondary) and a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Visual Arts) at the Queensland University of Technology.

Spending much of his spare time fishing and birding within the confines of Queensland’s capital, Tom uses a diverse range of mediums to articulate his observations of the natural environment and its relationship with the surrounding urban sprawl. Ideas of trace and ephemerality are ever-present within these recreational practices, which are translated into his work. Drawing inspiration from the Abstract Expressionists, Tom’s practice has predominantly used acrylic paint and salvaged cardboard. More recently, the artist has shifted his practice towards sculptural work, creating plaster moulds from the traces of life left on Moreton Bay’s sand flats, preserving the unique impressions that are inevitably erased by the following tide.

Presented in a way that is aesthetically pleasing yet inherently artificial and unnatural, Tom’s work prompts a conversation around ephemerality and decay; however, it also asks viewers to consider the natural world that is so closely within reach, yet so often overlooked.