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Tom Jean Webb

Austin, TX

(b. 1982) London, England

THE INSEPARABLE NATURE OF LAND FROM ITSELF

In his newest series, The Inseparable Nature of Land From Itself, Austin-based artist Tom Jean Webb gleans lessons from the land through keen observations and presence of mind. Born and raised just outside of London, England, Webb has maintained a lifelong fascination with the American Southwest, and his previous bodies of works reflect that by serving as a kind of fantastical portal to the distant land. Having lived in Texas for four years, The Inseparable Nature of Land From Itself represents Webb’s growing familiarity with his surroundings and continued meditation on humankind’s intrinsic relationship with the landscape. The figure persistent in his previous work is less active, capturing the character’s view now that he’s passed through the threshold. Still rendering the landscape of the American Southwest, The Inseparable Nature of Land From Itself is immersive, positioning the viewer as a player in the scene before them.

Webb’s motific contoured elements are more organic, his mark-making is more expressive, and his color palette is warmer, offering a sense of grounding. The flora and fauna depicted are rich in texture and detail, exuding unique energies that Webb crafted with intention. A new key element is introduced in The Inseparable Nature of Land From Itself: The Doberman Pinscher. Webb uses the Doberman as a symbol that represents the human tendency to project subjective ideals onto the natural world. The Doberman’s cropped ears and snipped tail are aesthetic standards that have become normalized, adhering to conditioned expectations for the breed in opposition to its natural features. In To Bark To Blossom, the Doberman fixates on an egg balancing on its nose. The egg represents a pure, unconditioned form of life; an untouched state of preconception. In the same way that the Doberman seemingly seeks guidance from the egg to reclaim that innate state, Webb looks to the land. Conceptually, The land exists between the Doberman and the egg because while it is physically manipulated by human intervention, it is still inherently pure in its ecological objective and disregards human aesthetics, borders, geopolitics, or timelines. Webb demonstrates this disregard by showing rocks straddling lines, rivers cutting through dams, and mountains dominating fences.

Webb also demonstrates the beauty of human’s union with the natural world by showing built structures harmonizing in color and texture with the surrounding landscape. Webb further develops his interest in painting’s ability to transcend its immediate space and objectivity in The Inseparable Nature of Land From Itself. By collapsing the paintings’ depth of field, Webb collapses timelines external to them. The natural world is constantly seeking equilibrium and does so on its own frequency without consideration for our linear time structures. For example, See Me Come Back Around is inspired by the land rebuilding itself from a forest fire and simultaneously depicts fruitful growth and charred scars. Further, each work builds upon the one before it, creating an ever-expanding loop of creation that exists beyond the timeframe of any given work’s completion. Webb’s playful facture celebrates the natural world and highlights that the rendering is a representation of the land that channels Webb’s thoughts and emotions prompted by its vastness. As humans, we are inextricably linked to the land and it holds a mirror back at us, and inversely, it is the original source of inspiration. In this sense, The Inseparable Nature of Land From Itself exhibits the land as the most profound teacher and urges viewers to seek out its beauty beyond the gallery wall.

From Beyond & Afar | {neighborhood} Tom Jean Webb
The Inseparable Nature of Land From Itself | {neighborhood} Tom Jean Webb
From One to Each Other | {neighborhood} Tom Jean Webb
A New Morning Like Honey | {neighborhood} Tom Jean Webb
Shine On | {neighborhood} Tom Jean Webb
Shine On
$ 7,300.00
Starry Starry Night | {neighborhood} Tom Jean Webb
I Could Love You Like A Planet, I Could Make You My Star | {neighborhood} Tom Jean Webb
Raindrops On Our Rooftop | {neighborhood} Tom Jean Webb
Start Where You Are | {neighborhood} Tom Jean Webb
Rewildin | {neighborhood} Tom Jean Webb
Rewildin
$ 5,800.00
See Me Come Back Around | {neighborhood} Tom Jean Webb
Among Light | {neighborhood} Tom Jean Webb
Among Light
$ 3,900.00
The Shadow of Yesterday, The Light of Tomorrow (Looking Back At Tomorrow) | {neighborhood} Tom Jean Webb
A Self To Unfold (Volcanic) | {neighborhood} Tom Jean Webb
I Just Wanted To Be Close To You | {neighborhood} Tom Jean Webb
Nature Study III | {neighborhood} Tom Jean Webb
Nature Study I | {neighborhood} Tom Jean Webb
Nature Study I
$ 2,000.00
Outside In | {neighborhood} Tom Jean Webb
Outside In
$ 950.00
The Call of The Wild | {neighborhood} Tom Jean Webb