FUNEMPLOYED
Thom Lowry (b. 1994, Kansas USA) draws from culinary interests to inform both material and composition of his handwoven cotton paintings. A sourdough baker by trade, Lowry seeks to expand abstract colour field traditions through technical processes that parallel the intricacies and craftsmanship of slow fermentation baking. For Funemployed, Lowry continues to explore multi-panelled, handwoven paintings, this time juxtaposing his self-produced canvas with new mediums, namely wood and aluminium. All three materials - canvas, wood and aluminium (or stainless steel) - are commonplace throughout his “studio” in a professional baking kitchen.
Canvas, called a couche, is used as support for shaped and proving doughs. Lowry will often even use the canvas from his paintings as couche in the bakery before cleaning and applying the fabric in its final preparation over stretcher bars. By working with and preconditioning the materials that comprise each painting, a dynamic and interwoven feedback loop is established, embedding practices within practices, processes within processes. The work Contiguity builds upon this concept of functionality, where a wooden board is adjoined to a couche panel. Such a board is an integral instrument for transferring baguette doughs from couche to ovens. First, the baker carefully lifts the couche and gently nudges the ready dough onto the narrow board. Following, that board is used to transfer the dough to a loader and finally into the oven. In another representative example, the work Dishpit features the same reflective silver sheen that dominates the kitchen landscape in the form of stainless steel bench tops, baking trays, pots and pans. The aluminium panel features a white acrylic wash that presents as large, swooping gestures, mimicking the motions of wiping clean one of these baking trays or benches with a sudsy sponge.
As for the show title, Funemployed, Lowry plays tongue-in-cheek with the struggles of acquiring vocational security in an increasingly uncertain market. Drawing from personal experience, he investigates the nature of manual labour in the contemporary world, considering a tension between postmodern mundanity and the rigorous requirements of physical skill sets. Following a light-hearted take on a serious subject, the work titles themselves offer humorous glimpses into the influences and musings of Lowry. An enquiry into the names of Jeremy Fragrance or Maximilian Riedel quickly reveals whimsical, infectious personalities dedicated to their respective crafts of perfume and wine glass manufacturing. With some crafts, mastery can be measured by the efficiency and accuracy of replication. Through stringent, rule-based practice, it can be argued that these works are deterministically produced. Therein, Lowry notes, is the challenge of creating a uniquely compelling composition. His solution is to approach art-making in the same way necessitated for making great bread: quality inputs and painstaking repetition. Despite measured efforts, exact replication remains an impossibility. Still, Lowry strives for marginal gains as he hones craft, motivated by the pursuit of internal stillness, resonance and satiation.
Geometric, textural and minimalist, the following works are abstractions of a classic French pastry, the canelé de Bordeaux. The canelé is a delightful, petite treat characterised by a custardy crumb and crunchy, caramelised shell. Two components are critical to the quality of the end product: beeswax and a specialty copper baking mould. Traditionally, the batter which fills the mould calls for rum, vanilla bean and an approximate 48-hour rest period. The resulting aromas and tasting notes are uniquely subtle, warming and, of course, delicious.
Lowry has honed in on the delicate processes behind executing a perfect canelé. Abstracted through the practice of painting, these intricacies are explored through materiality and medium. For this inspired series, multi-paneled works are composed of hand-woven canvas fabricated on the loom. Roughly 4,944 segments of cotton string surpassing 4 metres in length have been manipulated to, in the words of Ethan Cook, birth body to colour. Such extensive measures assign new meaning to an otherwise simplistic stretch of field painting. As for the literal paint applied on adjacent panels, the theme of canelé is championed through the incorporation of honey (albeit not beeswax) into an acrylic mixture.