Thomas Dudley explores so-called primitive forms and techniques with a new body of painted wooden sculpture, with hand-carved and painted totemlike objects evoking ancient origins and techniques as a means of managing and commenting on present crises.
“Future primitive” – first termed in 2020 by philosopher Johnathon Zerzan – is a concept that asserts the superiority of a hunter-gatherer lifestyle. Dudley embraces this idea within his creative process, collecting pine from local plantations and undertaking a practice that involves an intensive engagement with material and form. Upon viewing, one senses the intimate relationship between these abstract, richly textured objects and their maker.
Dudley’s intuitive, esoteric and boldly coloured sculptures emanate something of the spiritual or sacred – and this is in spite of knowing they are void of any ritualistic function. Through this dichotomy, audiences may be drawn to consider the once integral elements to the human way of life that contemporary society has let slip away.