Tom Freeman’s exhibition, Brick, presents a series of ceramic sculptures using found commercial bricks that have been altered and added to with clays, glazes and various natural materials. Some works reference the local histories of these bricks while others are formal abstracted studies of brick features and architectural forms. Some works transform into bodily figures while others are pure experimentations in materials and processes. The exhibition explores the varied uses of ceramics in society through pragmatism to poetry. With deliciously rough and muddy lumps of clay, Freeman embraces playful experimentation, trial and error, repeated disasters and the occasional mysterious creative win. The exhibition works with and transforms the gallery space through investigations of the existing architecture and its material history. Including site-specific wall paintings and structural interventions, the viewer is enveloped in an immersive and far reaching exploration of bricks and their place in our society and history.

Tom Freeman was born in Margaret River, WA in 1985. He completed a BA Fine Art from Curtin University in 2007 and has maintained his painting and sculptural practice from his Fremantle studio. He’s held solo exhibitions at Venn Gallery, Museum of Natural Mystery, and Paper Mountain, as well as group exhibitions at Fremantle Arts Centre, PICA, Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery, John Curtin Gallery, Art Gallery of South Australia, and many more. Freeman’s practice is primarily a fascination with materials and processes. His work evolves in a circular and generative way, with one work leading onto the next and on and on.