Spotlight On: Brendan Toole, sculptor & current TBSSS student
Name: Brendan Toole
What years have you attended classes at TBSSS?
2020 then 2022 - present.
What is unique about your TBSSS experience?
The excellent tuition from the teachers and the wonderful collegiate nature of the classes.
What was your first impression walking in to TBSSS at Erskineville?
I was nervous but immediately felt at ease once I met the other students.
What is special about TBSSS?
The classes feel safe and friendly and are always attended by nice, enthusiastic and interesting people to work with.
How have your studies at the TBSSS prepared you for your practice?
I am constantly learning and developing new skills.
What is your favourite medium to work in?
Clay.
What lessons / skills / concepts have you enjoyed learning at TBSSS?
Learning to live with and adapt to mistakes in the making process.
What inspires your practice today?
I am currently working on a series of historical portraits.
Tell us about the works you are exhibiting as part of the 50th exhibition:
I made this plaster bust of Oscar Wilde as part of an ongoing series of personal LGBTQI heroes from history.
It follows on from my Tom Bass Prize 2022 Finalist sculpture “Captain Cook’s Statue Relocated to Sydney Harbour #BLM2020”.
The series so far includes portraits of Roger Casement, Princess Catherine Hilda Duleep Singh and Alan Turing; I look forward to creating more. As a gay artist I hold these heroes up to honour their contributions to history. By representing each in classical style, I celebrate them frozen in time, standing defiantly against the homophobic forces of the dominant cultures that opposed and often tried to crush them. The portraits are both tender memorials and a sombre reminder of LGBTQI human rights injustices and struggles of the past and the ongoing fight for rights around the globe today. Dark forces still exist and we must stand up to them through our art, our writing and our day-to-day actions with bravery, intelligence and wit as demonstrated by the fabulous, flamboyant and flawed, gentle genius Oscar Wilde.
Thank you Brendan!
