Tom Prinz

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Biography:

Thomas Prinz is the principal of Arc-Studio, which is located in Omaha and was established in 1990 to explore the disciplines of Art and Architecture. He received his undergraduate degree in Architecture from the University of Nebraska and a master's degree from Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCOI-ARC) in 1988. He has been an adjunct professor and visiting critic at UNL School of Architecture. He has had exhibitions of his art and architecture at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Creighton University, Projects in Des Moines, Circa Gallery in Minneapolis and Gallery 72. Thomas was recently awarded first place for the international juried competition at the Los Angeles Center for Digital Art and was the featured artist at the opening of their new gallery space. He has been included in the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts annual actions.

Statement:

The process of visual expression is a constant struggle. Today's modernity is about the imperfect as much as the perfect, discontinuity as continuity. The ambiguity of this or that reflects the nature of the world in which we live. This displacement and ambiguity force one to establish new relationships.

I have always been attracted to paintings which are open-ended, have doubt and imperfection, are unfinished and barely defined. This gives the viewer a greater participation in the creative act. Trained as an architect, I feel predisposed to certain structural organizations and affinities.

It started with the basic idea of making marks on a surface. I follow the path between order and chaos. Paintings are done on the floor. They move around a lot to generate new combinations and relationships. The paintings are always seen in the context of others. There is a sense of collage with the elements that constitute the tentative boundaries which have been established. The work has a formless tactile quality. Torn newsprints to digital prints are combined to form a hybrid expression.

When a fusion exists between all these elements of tension in a balanced and uniform way, form occurs. The harmonious synthesis of form brings together the rational and intuitive aspects of the human condition – the paintings are not about ideas but thoughts.