ARTISTS STATEMENT

In 2001 there were approximately1.8 million Australians (9.6% of the population) reported having longterm mental or behavioural problems. I believe that my role as an artist is to promote a societal shift to a more positive way of thinking and living. My current work employs cognitive behavioural therapy as a form of combating mental illness.

If our brains are only able to have one conscious thought at a time, using a series of positive affirmations negates room for ego based negative thoughts. My canvasses provide positive statements that address the viewer as ‘I’ such as ‘I choose to live in the now and not hold the past against myself’ or ‘I am a beautiful soul’. There is no room in those moments of connecting with the canvas, for negative thought. Hopefully the viewer would leave the space having had some sort of psychological shift, conscious or not.

BIOGRAPHY

Tori Swedosh is a mixed media artist working in Melbourne. After graduating as a printmaker from the VCA in 1989 she started to explore painting. Enjoying the immediacy of acrylic paint and the bold richness of oil pastels she explored dream landscapes and personal motifs relating to balance and selfdestruction. Ideas which still haunt her curiosity.

Bringing together many years of playing with different ideas and techniques while experimenting with various styles, Tori is now using her yoga teaching background to explore the yogic principle, “Does it lead you away from Suffering?”. She has happily joined Sanctum Studios in 2021 and is excited to see what comes next.