Tom Hackett is a sculptural performing installations artist . He is an artist who did not set out to become artist. How did he arrive in a position to pursue the arts?
He was born in 1961 and it was not intentionally planned within his diary to become artist. Leaving school with no ‘O’ levels and with an uncertainty as what direction he was taking. An admin job in accounts made him decide this was not what he wanted in life. Tom was informed that Sheffield was ‘the place’ to go so taking a leap he headed there and sharing a house with other students he decided to apply for Art College. Tom applied and got into Middlesex University.
Applying for funding with Yorkshire Arts, he began collaborating with other artists and putting work together.
Taking a chance on yourself is something I relate to as a mature student. His openness and being able to relate to others and create connections is a skill I relate to also. His work draws people in and so draws people together. He has the confidence to step into his performance. The metaphors and the way he sees things is clear.
Tom emphasised the need to be persistent, not to give up and keep sending your work out . He got rid of all his rejection letters- a new start each time is a key. The journey ebbs and flows and when it goes down it comes up again quite quickly. Be courageous and just do the best work you can and go for it. From a perspective of curiosity and wanting to know the artist a bit more I would like to hear more about potential artist influences although I feel that the work may not be inspired that way.
The artwork ‘The Wheelbarrow Dog’ was inspired by walking a dog and noticing that people spoke to him. The dog in the wheelbarrow being bright yellow, draws your attention to the work, being a showstopper that guarantees someone will say something to you and start the conversation. The work invites attention by walking around with a dummy dog and makes people wonder. It invites communication.
