Washington, DC based Thom Flynn creates powerful works of torn and layered paper on wood panel. The artist locates the fuel that ignites these compositions through a process that finds him actively mining raw materials from the streets. Washington Post art critic Michael O'Sullivan recently included Flynn among a list of "artists worth taking note" for his "decoupaged works that are half sculpture, half painting [created] from bits of scavenged billboards and street posters." August 8, 2003. Evoking the Situationist fascination with the accidental stumble through the city, Flynn melds the messages, slogans, and signs that the urban landscape affords into three-dimensional compositions that have considerable depth and weight. Reflecting the artist's desire "to effectively merge the opposing forces of creation and destruction," Flynn's works mutually illuminate and obscure the found elements. The random and conscious layering of these elements in the finished product invites a kind of urban archeology by which the viewer explores and dissects each piece in search of meaning. Inevitably, the works evoke notions of consumerism and material excess. What is perhaps most compelling about these paintings is the surprising elegance that flows out of what initially seems chaotic.

Flynn moved to Washington, DC in 1996 to study Psychology and Studio Art at American University, where he received the Alma Thomas Award for painting. He participated in undergraduate study-abroad programs in Italy and France and spent the summer following his graduation in 2000 studying at the Chautauqua Institution in New York. He has participated in numerous group exhibitions in Washington, DC and in Los Angeles.

Untitled (2004)   SOLD	Untitled II (2004) SOLD
Inside the Artist's Studio	Inside the Artist's Studio