Biography
Tomas Garberding is a student and artist at the College for Creative Studies. He spends his time writing, drawing and thinking of new painting ideas. He was born in Royal Oak, Michigan and is currently based in Grosse Pointe, Michigan. He has studied previously at Michigan State University for biology but then transferred to College for creative studies to pursue art. He is looking to finish his undergraduate degree in Fine arts at college for creative studies and possibly receiving his MFA. He mainly practices painting, printmaking and drawing as well as sculpture and collage.
My Artist's Statement
I create etchings, linocut prints and oil paintings to explore the theme of what is cool in culture, studies on the things are commonly attributed to certain genders, the idea of fame and how it changes and morphs people in positive and negative ways, interesting personal experiences, and visual themes from older artists like Picasso. My influences range from artists like Picasso, to movies I find compelling like the Studio Ghibli movies. I’m heavily inspired by artists from the era of Picasso, and these visual themes like stripes, polka dots, zigzags appear in my work. My work is compelling because it's bringing back old aesthetics and repackaging them with more modern themes. Color is a large aspect of my work and I like colors that create a sense of visual balance in the work. I want the viewer to reconsider what they think of as cool with my work, I want them to find it mainly visually interesting through my use of dramatic perspectives and interesting contrasting colors.