Artwork to complement the space
After working 15 years in the interior design industry, Tori Thomas’ lifelong dream of becoming a freelance artist has now become a full-time gig.
Tori grew up in an artistic household. Her Dad working as a full-time portrait and landscape artist gave Tori the creative inspiration to also paint, create and draw whenever she could. Torn between her love for painting and interiors, she graduated
with a Bachelor of Interior Design and has worked in the Interior Design industry for the last 15 years. However during this time, Tori did not hang up her paint brushes, and she kept painting when she could, part time. Over the years she has exhibited in several joint exhibitions around NZ, worked as an artist in residence, and fitted out office spaces, cafés and apartments with her art and wall murals.
Tori’s close connection and love for art and interior spaces is where she draws her main inspiration for her works. “Art is an integral part to a space and the people that inhabit
it. The connection between interior spaces and art is crucial, art can be a conversation starter and it evokes emotions within a space. Art can be that final element that brings together the carefully selected pieces within the space.”
Tori regularly takes on commission works from her clients. She always takes the intended space into consideration when she is creating the piece, considering the colours, textures, and overall feel of the space to create a bespoke piece that complements all these elements.
Working from her studio in Mangawhai, Tori also draws inspiration from her natural surroundings and her art-making process. “To me art is a language of self-expression, it is my visual diary of things I find difficult to express verbally.” Tori paints in search of expressiveness, giving her the freedom to get lost in her work, and her art reflects her thoughts, emotions, and ideas.
Tori is currently painting abstract florals which are formed from gestural expression, colour exploration and refinement of the subject matter. Her process is loose to intentional; layers upon layers of gestural brushstrokes. And not just using brushes as her only way to apply paint, Tori will search for anything else within reach to apply her mark-making. Her colour palettes are always inspired by certain styles of interiors in mind, and colour helps to form the emotion of her work. She works mainly with oil paint, pastels, spray paint and the recent addition of powdered pigments.
Tori’s new collection ‘Unite’ will be released at the end of November and her next commission bookings will open back up at the end of September.