Tom Kristensen was born in 1962 and lives in Erskinville, Sydney. He was born into an artistic family his father is an architect, his mother a potter and his sister is a painter. He gained a degree in biology majoring in botany and ecology.
The workings of the natural world and its physical beauty have lead Tom to landscape design as a career as well as music and he only started producing woodblock prints for sale about four years ago.
Tom is a passionate collector of Ukiyo-e and other Japanese prints, and when the art dealer Tom had been mainly interacting with overseas discovered that he had taught himself to print and was producing works of fine quality he offered to sell them on line .
The rest as they say is history. That was four and a bit years ago. He has achieved wonderful results with woodblock enthusiasts. Papyrus is the first Australian gallery to put something on the wall!
Tom set about doing a series 'Thirty six views of Green Island' (aka 'Thirty six views of Mt. Fuji"). He is up to number twenty-six. These works show Tom's love of the sea - he is an avid surfer. Some show details of the physical beauty of nature - others observe the way man impinges on the natural environment e.g. 'Flotsam' (see accompanying notes for more detailed information).
Some of his images are worked through digitally for design purposes and then transposed onto the block. He says he likes the notion of using modern technology alongside an ancient hand cut method of printmaking. All his papers are especially sourced hand made washi papers.
Even though Tom collects Japanese prints there is obviously nothing imitative about his work
He uses the medium to illustrate subjects that would not necessarily be associated with the aesthetics of the wood cut, he chooses his style to suit his subject matter e.g. his 'Nude' series and Big 'M' series - these make social/political commentary much as the University poster could pack a punch only here it is done in the finest of detail and on exquisite paper.
Like the Ukiyo-e printmakers, he says he likes to capture the spirit of the times.
He has an interest in history as evidenced by his Ned Kelly series here he chooses a very minimal style because he relies heavily on symbolism- he hopes to do another and he has done a series of American historical figures.
He has recently done two prints for the Victorian Bush Fire Appeal.