It’s that time of year again, when the Old Pueblo’s readers converge on the mall at the UA for the annual Festival of Books, set for Saturday and Sunday, March 14 and 15. Books aren’t the only feature of the festival sports. Look for an artist, one Tom Farris, from Norman, Oklahoma, where he is a full-time artist. Don’t ask him what medium he works in. He works in all of them, whatever piques his imagination.
“I try not to stick to any one thing,” he said. “I don’t ever want to be pigeonholed as a printmaker or a painter. I bounce around a lot. Really what it is, I try to stick to the truest way to communicate the concept so if the idea is for a piece of jewelry, then I want to learn how to make a piece of jewelry… I’m all about incidental learning.”
Farris is here for the book festival, yes, but he is also here to share his art, which is part of the Arizona State Museum’s pop-up exhibit, “Tricksters and Truthtellers: Different Ways of Seeing.”
“Basically, what I did was illustrate characters and environments that showcase the artwork that’s found in their collections,” he said.
Farris will also lead a printmaking workshop and later, a talk. Finally, he will be available to talk at his booth, where he said he has some things to sell.
Farris doesn’t like to limit himself to just one way of working though right now he is focused on printmaking and painting. He says of his own work, “I’m an artist and I make weird stuff,” which could include a vintage Volkswagen Jetta, customized inside and out with his work, and a decommissioned slot machine featuring satirical images.
A member of the Cherokee Nation and Otoe-Missouria Tribe, Farris has been around American Indian art his entire life. The child of avid collectors, he spent a good deal of his youth in museums, galleries and artists’ homes.
Besides printmaking and painting, Farris works with wood and in digital creation and videography. He sews and looks for interesting stuff. His family never knew what he would come up with next.
Tom Farris is an accomplished woodworker, though these days he said he is doing a lot of painting. (Arizona State Museum/Submitted)
“I was the kid that always made stuff out of trash,’” Farris said. “That’s a complaint that my sister had.”
In fact, tape was always in short supply as he grew up. There was a reason.
“Any type of tape in our house was not safe, whether it was electrical, masking or scotch tape,” he said. “I used every bit of tape we ever owned.”
Visual Sovereignty: A Printmaking Workshop with Tom Farris
Carve a trickster and print it.
WHEN: 1 to 4 p.m. Friday, March 13
WHERE: The Drawing Studio, 2760 N. Tucson Boulevard
COST: $25 for the public, $15 for members of Arizona State Museum and The Drawing Studio and includes all supplies.
INFO: statemuseum.arizona.edu/events/visual-sovereignty
The Art of Tom Farris, an illustrated talk by the artist
Farris will discuss his unconventional approach to the various media he works in, as well as his work on the Arizona State Museum exhibit, “Tricksters and Truthtellers: Different Ways of Seeing.”
WHEN: 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Friday, March 13
WHERE: The Drawing Studio, 2760 N. Tucson Boulevard
COST: free but preregistration is required. Space is limited to 50 people.
INFO: statemuseum.arizona.edu/events/visual-sovereignty
The programs are a joint presentation of the Arizona State Museum and The Drawing Studio.