Hello. My name is Tom Swift and I’m a fourth year student at CU Boulder majoring in English Literature and minoring in both Art Practices and Music. I was first introduced to art through music at age 10 when I enrolled in my first strings class at school. I have been playing a variety of instruments and musical styles since and it remains to be my primary artistic practice and obsession. My love for the freedom of expression you can achieve through writing and playing music as well as my infatuation with musical improvisation and experimentation inspired me to try other creative mediums and I was introduced to visual art through modifying and creating clothes when I was 14. Although my interest in making clothes ultimately waned, I became interested in other types of creative expression. I was unsure where to begin with making art in the beginning so I’ve tried out a lot of mediums including: videography, painting, printmaking, collage, sculpture, and digital art. Although I now primarily make conceptual sculptures, I try to incorporate all of my art experiences into my current projects to whatever extent possible. 

The experimental process is essential to all of the art that I make. Oftentimes when I make a piece, regardless of the medium, I like to afford myself a great deal of time to spend tinkering with certain aspects of the piece or to find new means of arriving at the conclusions in my head. Although throwing stuff at the wall and seeing what sticks is sometimes not the most productive way of creating as it can lead one to playing endlessly, I find that any experimentation I do is invaluable as it either teaches me something new that I can use or methods to steer clear from.