Tom Thoune
painting | sculpture | mosaics
2-dimensional work
On October 22, 2014, I suffered a stroke in the balance and coordination area of my cerebellum. I've had to relearn how to use the limbs and hand on my left, dominant side. I've also had to develop the use of my right hand, which I've unexpectedly enjoyed. I decided to use art-making as my main form of occupational therapy, retraining both hands in the process.
I allowed myself an adventure in abstraction and experimentation. A series of air and sky paintings was my self-prescribed therapy for the 11-month marker of my stroke. These works on paper debuted at "The Dwelling" in September 2015 and were almost entirely painted with the use of my non-dominant hand. Themes range from proprioception (the ability to judge where your limbs are in space), balance, orientation, coordination, physical connectedness, strength, weakness, myopia and the development of sensors.