Today we’d like to introduce you to JT Thompson.
Hi JT, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, let’s briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today.
Abstract oil painter JT Thompson is known for his fragmented, surrealistic landscapes. JT Thompson manipulates perspective and scale to create his dream-like labyrinth worlds. Raised in southwestern Ohio, he moved to Columbus to study painting at the Columbus College of Art and Design. JT has received Individual Artist Grants from the Greater Columbus Arts Council, was selected for the Ohio Arts Council’s 2017 Biennial, and received the Ohio Arts Council individual excellence award for FY 2023. His work is represented in the collections of the Columbus Museum of Art, the Greater Columbus Convention Center, the downtown Columbus Hilton, Northern Kentucky University, the Columbus Hilton Tower, and the Chicago Shakespeare Theater.
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Anything worth achieving takes dedication, discipline, sacrifice, and hard work. The road through my Labyrinth was not paved in gold. Born in the late 60s by a single Mother and raised in the 70s as a latchkey kid. I was 30 at the age of 10. I was always fascinated and in awe of Picasso and Dali’s work as a young child in the 70’s. Years passed, and in the 80’s, a friend’s sister, who graduated from Columbus College of Art and Design, encouraged me to pursue formal training in the arts. After several years at Sinclair Community College, I sent my portfolio to CCAD. The portfolio was good enough to get accepted but needed improvement for an entire ride.
The road through CCAD was a struggle financially and emotionally. I was older than my peers, and two years in, I had a wife-to-be and a toddler to worry about. So, college life had to take a back seat, and the formal training ended. I kept working in my studio and worked on my craft as an artist. Years passed, and two boys later, I was introduced to a large basement studio in 2014. with a couple of studio mates, Underground 64 was born, and my art career was rejuvenated. Unfortunately, a few years in Underground 64 studio ended. I live and paint in the same space now. I do prefer this concept. My journey now is leading me to New York. I am focused on Art Expo 2025 with Redwood Art Group.
Thanks – so, what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I call my style Geometric Surrealism, which is manipulating physical space representation to create a distorted vision of reality. My paintings start with architectural elements – the illusion of rooms, staircases, and hallways. I employ multiple viewpoints of these spaces and corridors, simplified and distorted, to produce a composition of geometric shapes and planes with graphic overtones. This creates the illusion of depth with the X-Y-Z axis, scale, foreshortening, and place in time (the figures in the composition). These figures, representing past, present, and future, are based on the theory of Box Universe and the use of memories and experiences to
mold present and future experiences.
As an artist, I am interested in the subconscious workings of the psyche. My work serves as a meditation on the subjectivity that informs our interpretation of experience. This focus converges with a more formal interest in pushing the precepts of figurative painting. I aim to create compositions that both surprise and intrigue. Hmm, I am proud that at my age, I still have the passion and desire to create paintings that provoke the viewer to explore my Labyrinth compositions. Also, I am proud that my Labyrinth series has intrigued collectors from these establishments: Columbus Museum of Art (Larry DiRosario collection), the Greater Columbus Convention Center, the downtown Columbus Hilton, Northern Kentucky University, Columbus Hilton Tower, and Chicago Shakespeare Theater. My social media followers humble me. It is all inspiring to know total strangers follow this OS OG (old school, old guy). It is taxing to stay on top of social media. Trying to be a social media creator and promote my art takes away from the studio time, which could be better. What sets me apart from other painters is my style. Geometric Surrealism.
We’re always looking for the lessons that can be learned in any situation, including tragic ones like the Covid-19 crisis. Are there any lessons you’ve learned that you can share?
The Covid crisis confirmed I am okay with solitude.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://jtoriginals.net/
- Instagram: @jtoriginals_llc
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/jtoriginals
- Twitter: @JTORIGINALS
- Youtube: @jtthompson5837
