Counting Time

Not Forgotten Tom E. Schilk Prismacolor pencil on paper, unframed Size: 30" W x 22" H Framing additional and available upon request “I’ve taken the usual hatchmarks to count time and hopefully made something fresh. I’ve overlaid 8 values of grey in an ordered repetitive pattern - that reflects the ordered repetitive life I’m living (not discounting the chaos that often interrupts that pattern). While I love the look of this type of work with its wavering movement it's the meditative process that's important to me while I'm immersed in the making. I’m no longer a prisoner but rather a creator, at least for a while. So while I love the look of the work, it's in a very real way actually just a sort of artifact or recording of the aesthetic experience I have while making the work.” Tom E. Schilk, born in Philadelphia in 1959, is a self-taught artist whose work has been shaped by over two decades of involvement with the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program. Tom is currently incarcerated at SCI-Phoenix. His artistic practice serves as a beacon, illuminating what lies hidden behind walls, both literal and metaphorical, that divide us. His art also functions as a quiet but compelling critique of the systemic incarceration of countless men, women, and children confined to darkened cells across the nation.