Tom Hill: Buckle

January 21 – February 28, 2015

Opening Reception: Friday January 23, 6-8 pm

Tom Hill is a sculptor, draftsman, and jeweler whose work is an exploration of the natural world, most notably in sculptural objects depicting birds and animals in motion. Utilizing materials such as mild steel wire, copper, enamel, pigments, and most recently hand-dyed and found textiles, the artist creates objects that often imply, in effect, a three-dimensional “sketch.” His most recent series of wearable pieces examines a commonly underappreciated object – the belt buckle. Both ornamental and operational in nature, the belt buckle simultaneously serves as a clasp for fastening two ends and a personal statement of individuality. Hill’s one-of-a-kind buckles play with this notion of form vs. function, exploring aesthetic and functional methods of binding, stitching, and joining. From the summation of many parts, one individual object is fastened. Keeping your pants up, artfully.

Born in Rochford, Essex, England, Hill studied at Ipswich School of Art and Middlesex University, London and currently lives and work in San Francisco. His work has exhibited at museums and galleries on an international level; highlights include solo exhibitions at ARTspace at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center (Sheboygan, WI), the Fuller Craft Museum (Brockton, MA), and the De Morgan Centre, (London, UK). The artist’s pieces can be found globally in corporate, public, and private collections; notable commissions include projects for the Hyatt Regency Hotel (Tampa, FL), the BBC Symphony Orchestra (London, UK), and the John Lewis Department Store (Southampton, UK). His work has been included in numerous publications such as Metalsmith magazine (US),CRART Magazine (South Korea), as well as Lark Books’ 500 Broches and 1000 Rings. Hill has been represented by Velvet da Vinci for nearly two decades.