“Reset” is a collection of new work by Tony Thompson; inspired by his experiences during a recent, extended hospitalization. He is currently recovering from a hemorrhage in his brain stem which has affected his vision, hearing and motor functions. “Reset” represents the first works Tony created after the onset of this condition, and paintings inspired by those pieces that he has created during his recovery. The imagery and technique used to create the pieces breaks new ground for Tony who has been forced to interact with the world and his art with a shifted perspective based on these life changing events. Works displayed will consist of drawings and sketches created in the hospital, during Tony’s rehabilitation. Also displayed will be newer paintings influenced by the imagery and style of the simplistic and crude drawings. On November 10th 2011, Tony wrote the following on face book: sept 3rd i lost my ability to draw/paint straight, controlled, clean lines. this technique being a strong component in my work and the frustration of not being able to reliy on it, had temporally discouraged me to do any kind of work. i guess early on i figured i could just wait it out and it would just click back as fast as it vanished. later in sept after another bleed in me brain, worse symptom…s and an extended stay in a neuro icu, i began to realize there is no waiting for any thing.!! after getting out of the icu mid oct, i soon gave drawing a try, releasing a few of many images that have been welling up in my mind. since then i have been drawing every day. iv excepted my inability to control my hands and eyes in order to produce clean controlled line work that i once felt comfortable using. now i am slowly becoming more comfortable with my (for lack of better ways of describing it) “newly uneducated hand”. with a mind that fully knows what i want to produce, and hands and eyes that hardly do what there told, i no longer feel this process to be frustrating. i find it to be exciting, in a way that im sill unsure each time how different my end product will become compared to the image in my head! its exciting to discover simplicity, and sloppy as an unforced technique! its exciting to create with out feeling the old mindset, that was some times overwhelming, in order to produce exactly what was in my mind. with that being said, i cant wait for my solo show commin up in feb. , details will be coming soon. but as of now i know it will be in feb, at The Hamilton Center for the Arts (in Hamilton ny), and will be a collection of works that i have done since iv lost my old style and has now been Reset to default.. February 5th 2012, update: Tony has made immense progress in his recovery since the November 10th post. Though all of his symptoms have not recovered 100% he has regained his fine motor movement and much of his vision. His ability to perform fine lines and use detail in his art is has steadily regained normality but he will always remember the perspective of detachment he had while creating the original illustrations that inspired this series. Written by Lauren Miller