Tom Hansell

I like to get my hands dirty. My work grows from the rural communities where I live and work, and collaboration is an important element of my artistic process. As a result, my community has become my studio.

I am interested in combining ecological principles of interdependence with organizing strategies that build community power and cultural equity. Most of all I want my work to deeply impact the individuals and communities that I work with – creating fair and just public policies, opening peoples minds to new opportunities, or simply making people laugh and think at the same time.

“The Sunbuggy” solar panel, galvanized steel, plastic wheels, battery, voltage inverter, electrical wiring, automotive lighting, LCD video monitor 36 ̋ x 38 ̋ x 36

My body of work includes documentary video and audio about the efforts of Appalachian coalfield communities to achieve economic and environmental justice. I have also created a series of self-powered video installations that create their own electricity through sunlight and motion. I am currently developing a set of site-specific installations exploring the natural and human history of the New river – the oldest river in North America.

“Greenhouse effect” electric meter globe, forged steel, native appalachian plants, and coal 18 ̋ x 14”x 14

CONTACT

thansell@GMail.CoM

COLLABORATION

WEBSITES AND LINKS TO OTHER MATERIALS

Michael Dickins

“When George Eastman created the Kodak Camera in 1888, he made a cumbersome and complicated process easy to use and accessible to nearly everyone …”

…Since then, the world has been oversaturated with trillions of images. photographs have become highly accessible and highly expendable. Within the age of digital media, when the discarding of an image is as simple as a push of a button, what makes one image more expend- able than another? By taking images of everyday occurrences and recreating them in a painterly, non-photographic manner, I am not only putting focus on the snapshot and that of the “everyday” image, I am also forcing the viewer to question their importance.

“Bullet with Butterfly Wings” woodblock ink, graphite, charcoal, oil pastel on wood panel 24 ̋ x 24