WTF?

Thomas Hjelm (b. 1992, London) is a multidisciplinary artist working predominately across painting and sculpture, using a combination of modified printers and scanners, Hjelm creates physically engaged works which often adopt colloquial text and slogans.

Hjelm’s works are symbiotically digital and physical; by creating his imagery with scanners there is a forced intimacy in image production as the object is pressed against the glass, resulting in a dissociative flatness. This flatness is combated by the physical interjections into the surface of the canvas. Swelling and bursting at the seams, the unattainable flat image is given body, laden with experience.

The work distorts methods of communication, mirroring language and presentations ubiquitously found across social media, branded products & advertisements. The broken-down imagery is transfixed within the glossy veneer of the undulating solidified surfaces, giving permanence to the ethereal and fleeting.  The interplay between the surfaces of the work draws comparison to our entwined habitual interactions with our digital selves through mobile devices; both present and distant.

In 2021, Hjelm exhibited in and curated the Royal College of Art rooms for the London Grads Now 2021 exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery. He was featured in the Evening Standard culture review, Euro News, and multiple art publications. Additionally, he was Highly Commended for the 2021 Ashurst Art Prize and was awarded a solo show, Hold Me Closer, which opened in 2022.


EDUCATION: 

2018-2021: MA Royal College of Art

2010-2014: BA Chelsea College of Art (UAL)