The art of Reece Tong is the art of simplification
and essentialisation. Forms are flattened, shapes are reduced,
designs are repeated and patters are created.
His process is methodical, paint is applied in a workman
like manner, thoughtfully and never hurried... like the classic
roadside labourer (and Reece has done his share of such jobs).
Reece grew up around the small farming communities of New
Plymouth on New Zealand's West Coast. He worked at various
labouring jobs before applying himself to his art work at
the studio of Vincents Art Work Shop in Wellington.
His work is primarily graphic and is expressed through a
variety of materials and techniques from paper mache and clay
to carve and painted wooden reliefs. His intuitive process
of transforming objects to a kind of primal essence invites
the comparison of his work to that of tribal/aboriginal art
making. But this is a natural association and there is no
hint of a forced or studied approximation.
Through the lens of his visual language Reece is free to
describe his world. His choice of subject matter injects the
work with his character and his humour. All kInds of things
get described in the work; local sports grounds, dolphins,
shopping malls, birds. Text is simply used as identifying
labels; guides to meaning and the letters are treated as component
shapes that become part of the overall design.
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