Friends of the Drill Hall Gallery invite the wider School of Art and Design community to join us for an artist talk with Higher Degree Research Candidate Thomas O'Hara who has work on exhibit at SOA&D Gallery alongside Candidates Shanti Shea An and Marian Drew. His show Build - burn - repeat runs from 11 July - 25 July 2024.

This practice-led research project uses the explorative nature of craft to investigate the complexities of wood by creating a series of brooches and larger objects. These works are made from tens to hundreds of wooden segments assembled in a complex matrix. Rules are established to create a core structure for all the works. Each work is then transformed by fire, eroding and unifying the surface, which is cleaned to reveal the wood’s grain structure in a unique way that connects to the material’s organic origins. These two processes are developed and evolved over each successive work in a cumulative exploration of what makes something complex. The generative automatic aspect of rules is examined against intentionality and control within the developed processes and the effect this has on the complexity of the works. The result is a series of unique works that appear both human constructed and formed in nature, becoming reminders of our interconnected relationship with this complex and wonderful material, wood.

Thomas O’Hara began studying Gold and Silversmithing in 2010 at RMIT University, Melbourne and completed his Honours there at ANU in 2014. After returning to his hometown of Canberra, Thomas commenced a PhD at the Australian National University School of Art and Design. With a trade background as an electrician, Thomas has developed a controlled, systematic way of constructing work which he combines with a strong interest in organic, free-formed patterns and objects found in the environment. This has resulted in a practice that explores our complex connection to nature through wooden objects that blur the division between human constructed and what is naturally formed. O’Hara’s works provoke curiosity and engage us with material that reminds us of our interconnected relationship to the natural world.

Refreshments provided.

Image: Thomas O'Hara, 'Object 9,' 2024. Mixed Eucalypt, 60 x 90 x 80cm. Photo supplied.