About

Tom Simmo (b. 1996, Sydney) is a Sydney-based emerging multidisciplinary artist and craftsman living and working on Gadigal land. Their work uses repetition and abstractions of architecture to comment on uniformity, conformity and the desire to fit in. Simmo also criticizes the ever increasing focus on scale and speed over quality and care.
Their most recent body of work draws on a photograph of a single balcony which is tessellated over itself to create an infinitely expanding building. The execution of this is at times deliberately crude; gaps in acetate are visible in the original print and the screenprints often vary in ink saturation and tone. In some works the prints are wheat pasted onto surfaces, referring to the political history of crude paste-ups. Even the wheatpasting is poorly done, with overlapping layers not quite lining up, creases left in and stains from the glue layered over the paper. All of this is a deliberate reference to the state of the construction industry in Sydney; buildings are built quickly and cheaply, with little concern to the comfort or even safety of the future tenants.
In addition to the criticism of the construction industry, Tom Simmo uses repetition to comment on individuality and uniformity. In many apartment buildings you are unable to implement decorations, plants or coverings that are viewable from the street, even if you are lucky enough to purchase an apartment. The balconies that make up the work are identical, with any variation caused only by the poor method of construction, and this reflects the uniformity of culture and society. The works are greatly reminiscent of the repeating patterns found in camouflage, particularly Dazzle Camouflage, and they confuse the eye in the same way. The camouflage acts as a uniform for society; With the increasing uniformity of contemporary architecture, everywhere and everyone is forced to appear more and more similar, and it hides our unique differences behind concrete and glass.