Hammraiser

I grew up in Adelaide in the early 90s in the aftermath of ‘The Family’ murders. As a small child I remember my Mother talking about the boys who were found on the banks of the Torrens with drill bits found inside their bodies. It used to give me awful nightmares (usually where I would be taken in various nefarious ways from my front yard).

Many people theorised (and almost uncovered) the ring of paedophiles who were supposedly behind the murders but no one was ever arrested as the guilty parties were said to be high ranking members of the clergy and police. The men behind the Family members hid in domesticated environments wielding neighbourhood authority in order to commit some of the most horrific child murders I’ve ever heard of happening in this country. They’ve never been solved. My friend who is in this portrait has a Christopher Robin tattoo on his chest which I also drew for him. This seemed particularly fitting in this work's context.

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TOM CHRISTOPHERSEN is a Sydney based, award winning, Queer performer and visual artist whom is as petrified of beautiful things and death as much as he is transfixed by them. It is primarily the car-crashing of these two themes which permeate the hyper-realistic, almost surrealistic, often dark portraits and films he produces.
Tom aims to bring focus back to portraiture that is of a level of detail it demands an intimate level of engagement from the viewer. Working almost exclusively on watercolour paper with watercolour pencil and acrylic, Tom hopes his traditional, technical approach to drawing and painting provide a fresh, immediate offering to portraiture and indeed representation of the self. The figures and themes within Tom’s work are often autobiographical and based on real life experiences.

Tom’s artistic intention has always been to make images that create the necessary disturbances in order to provoke permanent, positive change.
Commission, print and sale enquiries are available via request.

Tom lives and works on the stolen Gadigal lands of the Eora Nation.