Eden #31

Pieces from the Eden series are sold framed and mounted. The artist has chosen custom hand built Black Ash Floating Frames for this series. With this option, the print comes sealed under an archival luster laminate and is mounted with a backing of 3/16" plexi. The frame face measures 1/2" by 2" deep with the art floating 3/8" from the frame edge and with a 3/8" center space, creating a clean look that focuses on the art yet finishes and protects the piece. Please feel free to email the studio with any questions.

The line between walking the Earth and traversing the cosmos is much thinner than we may care to believe. A mere change in angle, the tilt of the head, or simply the way the light is cast can dissolve the boundaries between our terrestrial and ethereal realms. It is at this intersection that Thomas Card created “Eden”, a set of photographic diptychs composed of simple slices of pear and chayote fruits.

 

The fruit begins to glow and shine as Card illuminates them from opposing angles. The first is a backlight. The slices appear to be bathed in an aura of warmth. Almost translucent, the raw and striking physicality radiates through. The details of form and texture are heightened as they uncover the network of veins and pulp that hide within. The second is a harsh frontal light. A bright cool tone conversely washes out the color and shape of the fruits. Pushed beyond the limits of the physical world they now embody an otherworldly quality. Their familiarity slips away and ignites the imagination. While Card’s subject remains constant and unmoved, each slice undergoes a metamorphosis. With the blink of an eye, they have been inevitably altered.

 

Between the beams of Card’s contrasting light, he unveils the foundational and mysterious duality of life. Placed together, allowing the unique qualities of each perspective of light to be heightened by their proximity to the other, viewers become acutely aware of how they react to their surroundings in a cerebral versus a visceral manner. As humans, our relationship to objects can teeter between the emotional and the tangible, each with its own dialogs, memories, and experiences. Through Card’s playful use of fruit, viewers come to reconsider their understanding of the world as they see the hidden dynamism that makes up life itself.

Thomas C. Card is an American artist based in New York. Card has always seen the world through the lens of art, questioning how to elevate the most simple and mundane aspects of life into their most aspirational state. And similarly, how to make the most fanciful and whimsical elements communicate their most profound meaning. Underlying Card’s work you will find mathematical formulas and symbolism that draw on scientific theories and art history alike.

 

Born in Johnson City, Tennessee and raised in Decatur, Illinois, Card rose out of the rough and tumble industrial environment through his achievements in art. Card’s work gained national attention even before graduating from high school, landing him a scholarship to the School of Art at Washington University in St. Louis. Within a short time after graduation, Card had already developed a reputation as a master printer working for top photographers in New York City. By the age of 23, his own work was published in international magazines.

 

Card’s large-scale landscape photographic collages, entitled “Alone Together,” form the central focus of his most theoretical work. With this work, Card uses the single image as a mark playing with repetition, sequencing, context, and tonal values to create complex layers of coded meaning. By repeating the print images in collage form, the role of the singular image changes, no longer solely functioning as an isolated representation but rather a part of a larger meaning. The image continues to convey a singular meaning, but enhanced by a contextual meaning, further enhanced through sequencing and finally through repetition. The form and pattern emerge with balance and assigned values, all referencing historical norms, while playing with new context and symbols.

 

Card’s first book and multi-media show, “Tokyo Adorned,” explores the expression of individuality and self through intimate studio portraits of Tokyo’s fashion tribe members. Work from this sold-out book has been seen in multiple shows across the country. Tokyo Adorned received high praise from major media outlets, and Card was interviewed repeatedly regarding his process and experiences surrounding the book and the show.

 

Card has been featured in numerous international publications including American, German and French Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, the London Sunday Times, Vogue Gioiello and the New York Times Magazine. His sense of beauty, wit, and whimsy permeates his style of storytelling and can been seen in his collaboration on numerous advertising campaigns including Gucci, Ferragamo, Issey Miyake, Baume & Mercier, Marc Jacobs, Apple and more.