In Episode 2 of Art Island, we meet artist Tom Burrows in his handmade Downes Point home. Tom’s practice – which over 50 years has encompassed poly-resin colour fields, abstract sculpture, and designing and building unconventional dwellings – has become canon in Canadian art. He shares insights into his storied career and the legacy of 1970's counterculture on both his own work and society today. Tom's humble admiration for the artist Eva Hesse, continuing connection to contemporary art through his assistant Yasmine Whaley-Kalaora, and the fundamental tenet that ideas can be carried timelessly, can all be found in his own work and life today: striving for the freedom to live, and the freedom to build.

Historical Note: The Maplewood Mudflats in North Vancouver, BC, was the intertidal site of a squat community between the 1950s and 1970s where artists, hippies, and outsiders built and lived in stilt houses. Burrows built his own home and lived in the community for two years until the settlement was burned down by order of the District of North Vancouver in 1971.

[About Tom Burrows]
Tom Burrows is an internationally-recognized artist whose primary medium is cast pigment polymer resin. His current practice focuses on colour fields, which play with opacity and surface texture to give the illusion of a panel lit from within.
Burrows received a Bachelor of Arts in Art History and Sociology from the University of British Columbia in 1967, and continued post-graduate studies in sculpture at St. Martin's School of Art, London, England until 1969. He has held solo exhibitions in London, Tokyo, Berlin, New York, and across Canada. The artist's work is held in private, corporate, and public collections across Europe, Asia, and the Americas. Most recently, his polymer resin works were acquired for the permanent collection of Canada House in Trafalgar Square, London, and the HBC Global Art Collection in New York. Tom Burrows lives and works between Hornby Island and Vancouver, BC.

[Art Island: Perspectives from a Creative Community]
Who are the individuals that comprise the vibrant artistic community of Hornby Island? This 10-episode docu-series looks into the personal lives and artistic perspectives of local artists — our community members. Expanding on how they became artists, what inspires their art, challenges they've encountered, and how they persevered, Art Island is a deep dive into why artists feel art is important and how it has the power to affect us all.

[Credits]
Director & Cinematographer - Zsofin Sheehy
Associate Producer - Emma Walter
Assistant Director - Kris Krüg
Location Sound - Liam Wheatley
Sound Mix & Design - Nick Kold
Title Animation - Grigorii Kniagnitskii
Colour - Bogdan Mykytenko

Music:
Max Earchuck
Stefan Kartenberg
Los Amparito
Doctor Dreamchip
Jahzzar
Trans Atlantic Rage
Plasticine Cowboy
Crowander
Gregor Quendel

Images courtesy of:
Bau-Xi Gallery
Tom Burrows Fonds, Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery, University of British Columbia
Tom Burrows
Elisha Burrows
Rachel Topham Photography
Michael R. Barrick
Jerry Williams
Bob Cain
Bo Helliwell
Michael McNamara
Rob Corder
Trevor Patt
Josh Burrows
Rick Morritt
Gina Tessaro
Marisa Kringwiwat Holmes

For more episodes follow the links below:

E1: Alina Milek    • Art Island S1E1: Alina Milek - Flower...  
E2: Tom Burrows    • Art Island S1E2: Tom Burrows - Sculptor  
E3: Moragh Eilish    • Art Island S1E3: Moragh Eilish - Mixe...  
E4: Michelle Nyberg    • Art Island S1E4: Michelle Nyberg - Pa...  
E5: Tony Wilson    • Art Island S1E5: Tony Wilson - Musici...  
E6: Alpen Kelley    • Art Island S1E6: Alpen Kelley – Paint...  
E7: Gordon Payne    • Art Island S1E7: Gordon Payne - Artist  
E8: Elaine Savoie    • Art Island S1E8: Elaine Savoie - Pain...  
E9: Tom Knott    • Art Island S1E9: Tom Knott - Artist  

New episodes coming soon — Subscribe to stay in the loop and watch more videos.

Thank you Dr. Andrew Mark for helping this project come to life by visioning and securing funding.

This project is supported by funding from Canada Council for the Arts and British Columbia Arts Council.

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...