Tom Lasley Studio City, CA Age 65
What keeps you excited in the studio? I begin a piece with only a few elements and a vague idea of what I intend to create. What keeps me engaged and excited are the unexpected, surprising additions and solutions that occur along the way as a piece evolves. A finished piece is always something I never could have imagined at the outset.
Looking back at your trajectory as an artist, how would you say your work has developed? I’ve learned if I’m at all stuck or uncertain about the next step to take with a project to be patient and walk away knowing the answer will eventually present itself. Sometimes they show up unexpectedly years later!
What role do you think the artist has in today’s society? To encourage seeing things through another person’s lens and consider another perspective.
What’s the most important advice you could give to an aspiring artist? If you are making art you are not an aspiring artist you are an artist. If you aspire to make money as an artist I have no idea.
Does age matter in art? Why or why not? Yes because experience can provide a deeper understanding of life and no because you’re always young in your own mind!
What can we look forward to from you next? I have a new body of work based on the vanitas/memento mori tradition that I’m hoping to show in the near future. I’ve also been working on some big, chaotic collages that I’m very excited about sharing.
Is there anything else you would like to share about being an artist later in life? I only began fully engaging with art later in life and it’s gratifying – and a relief! – to feel I’ve finally found the thing I’m meant to be doing.
tomlasley.com @tomlasleyart
“Tragedy, Tragedy, Tragedy” Mixed media shadow box assemblage, 2021, Keith Berson photo