Tom Betts is a native of Salt Lake City where he lives, paints and teaches.  He has worked for 26 years studying and experimenting with visual art, which caught his eye at an early age as he discovered new forms of visual communication.  The passion of physically representing what he saw and wanted to see sent him on an ontological journey resulting in a desire to understand human temporal identity.

In his new series Repouring Tea, Betts forges a sharper awareness to cultural and individual identity by compressing traditional concepts, regimens and processes to create a multi-level experience of ideological engagement.  As he deconstructs, repairs, and rebuilds the tradition of the still-life, he accesses and accepts its state of fragility and inevitable temporal transition into a work-hardened segment of history.  What once was a vessel from which to drink is now a vessel which is drunk.  Repouring Tea deconstructs the last eight years of his traditional oil painting research.

web site: www.tombetts.com