Thom Roberts and Studio A

What will you discover?

Thom Roberts sees the world through a kaleidoscope lens. His unique perception of identities are read through an equally particular channel – the crowns of people's heads – the top of your head where your hair starts its spiral. Thom loves to peer into people’s crowns, there he finds millipedes, dogs and cows.

This magic map of Melbourne is multi-layered. When viewed with a smartphone and AR app, the map will come alive with a choreography of crowns. Thom has cast himself as the tram driver who magically travels back to the olden days, the time of black and white. A community of crowns will gradually get on board the tram as Thom progressively responds to images sent to him.

What will Thom discover in your crown?

For a chance to be included in the work:

Take a photo of your crown and send it to Thom: crowns@studioa.org.au
Thom will select crowns to decipher and sketch out what he sees in your crown.
The video in this work will be updated throughout MENTAL

Thom Roberts has long been fascinated by crowns – that point at the back of the head where hair tends to grow in a spiral. At Studio A, a supported studio for neurodiverse artists where Thom makes most of his work, he will often reach out to touch the heads of fellow artists and staff members, perhaps peering in close to find a creature of one sort or other. His crown readings are a beautiful blessing – a way of touching base or taking measure – and have become a part of the fabric of the studio.

Thom & Crowns

I like crowns heaps
I like crowns most
I like tiny holes
Millions of holes
Millions of holes in your head
There are tiny squares…
With my magic eye.

Thom also has a deep personal fascination with trains, trams and towers. He sees them as having their own personalities – they are his friends and inspiration. The photocopier is his other great muse, and core to his process and practice. Beginning with images sourced online, Thom manipulates and duplicates images and these form the basis of new works. ‘Blown up huge’, adorned with new features (eyes, noses, moustaches) or animated using AR magic, Thom’s work makes the mundane magical. He works across painting, drawing, installation, animation and performance, and is an awarded and recognized contemporary Australian artist.

Studio A: a studio of artists with intellectual disability who are supported to achieve their professional artistic goals and sustainable careers. Studio A is driven to ensure artists with intellectual disability have a voice in contemporary Australian culture; supported with tailored professional pathways, studio/materials, creative collaborations, positioning, legal advocacy, marketing and sales platforms.

Through this artist centred environment, Studio A artists have been commissioned and exhibited by: Art Gallery of NSW; Carriageworks; MCA; Artbank; City of Sydney; Australian Design Centre; Hazelhurst; ABCTV; LendLease, Westpac & Stockland developments; M5 Motorway; Romance Was Born; MUD; AMP & Liberty Special Markets (Sydney, London) offices; Cementa & Big Anxiety Festivals.

Studio A’s Emily Crockford won the 2020 National Arts & Disability Award (Emerging) and was a 2020 Archibald Prize finalist; Thom Roberts was exhibited in 2018 The National, high above the Carriageworks entrance.

Crowns, Trams and Millipedes