Tomas Co

Artist Portfolio

Artist Statement

I work in various media in pursuit of minimalist expressions of my personal reactions to events, people and conditions


2D Art

Sumi-e, watercolor, acrylic, pastel, digital painting and photography.





3D Art

Metal, ceramic, stone, resin and paper/paperclay





External Links

Exhibits, talks and other links


(c) 2026 Tomas Co

2D Gallery

3D Gallery

Short Art CV

Born in Manila, Philippines in December, 1959, I am currently practicing as a contemporary artist.I am also a retired professor of chemical engineering at Michigan Technological University.My studio is located in 101 Quincy St, 3rd Floor, Room 17, Hancock, MI 49930

Current Perspectives

I am intrigued and challenged at exploring the tensions between nuance and hysteria that exists in movements, positions, textures, weights, dimensions, and color.

To this end, I find sumi-e art to have a strong minimalist and gestural characteristic that will aid me in my artistic journey. I wish to extend the same approach to other two and three dimensional media. As usual, my experimentations result in several humbling but educational failures, interesting surprises and curious learning. I greatly enjoy the communication and negotiations between myself and the art pieces - affording me deeper meditation on the intangible aspects of the image or object as well as the process of artmaking.

I see the world undergoing tremendous changes - lately however, most of them are frustrating, unfriendly, chaotic and uncontrolled. I try and I need to see or at least to seek hope that beauty, peace and love will continue to survive.

Shows
& Group Exhibits

  • "Abstract Expressions", 2026, CSI Project Space, Chicago, IL, group exhibit, sculpture: "You and Me".

  • "NigthVisions: AMBER 2026", 2026, Coconino Center for the Arts, Flagstaff, AZ, group exhibit, watercolor: "Undercurrents" and digital print: "Twilight in Baraga".

  • "Viridian Artists 34th Annual Juried Exhibition, 2026", 2026, Viridian Artists Gallery, New York, NY, group exhibit, ink and charcoal: "La Madre di Proserpina".

  • "39th Annual Northern National Art Competition, 2026", 2026, Nicolet College Art Gallery, Rhinelander, WI, group exhibit, watercolor: "Silent Rage".

  • "My Favorite Art, 2026", 2026, MVA Gallery, Bethlehem, PA, group exhibit, watercolor: "In the Eye of the Storm".

  • "Absolutely Abstract 2026", 2026, MVA Gallery, Bethlehem, PA, group exhibit, watercolor: "As She Marches On".

  • “Off Center 2026: An International Ceramic Art Competition”, 2026, Blue Line Arts Art Gallery, Roseville, CA, group exhibit, ceramic sculpture: “Riemannian”.

  • “When in the Course of Human Events …”, 2026, The Bristol Art Museum, Bristol, RI, group exhibit, watercolor painting: “Indignation” (chosen as one of the Juror's Award of Distinction)

  • “Interwoven Worlds 2025”, 2025, Circle Gallery, Maryland Federation of Art, Annapolis, MD, group exhibit, ceramic sculptures: “The Idealist” and “The Martyr”.

  • “Digital Directions, 2025”, 2025, Circle Gallery, Maryland Federation of Art, Annapolis, MD, group exhibit, digital prints: “Convolution” and “Social Media”.

  • "Ink and Clay 46”, 2024, W. Keith & Janet Kellogg University Art Gallery of CalPoly University, Pomona, CA, group exhibit, clay sculptures: “Ortbital” and “Dark Web”

  • "Grandeur of Color", 2023, MVA Gallery, Bethlehem, PA, group exhibit, watercolor: "Canine" and digital art: “Social Media”

  • “New Painting”, 2023, Site:Brooklyn Gallery, Brooklyn, NY, “Anatomy of the Perpetual Repudiation”, “The Inquisition” and “The Angry Sky”, group on-line exhibit

  • "Archetypes and Complexes", 2023, Kerredge Gallery, Hancock, MI, solo exhibit

  • “Arabesque”, 2022, Rozsa Gallery, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI, group exhibit by Tomas Co and Clement Yeh

  • “Small Works 2022”, 2022, Main Street Arts Gallery, Clifton Springs, NY, group exhibit. Sculpture: “The Immigrant”.

  • “Blackout – Annual National Exhibition”, 2022, Art on 30th/Ashton Gallery, San Diego, CA, group exhibit. Sculpture: “Anxiety”

  • "Bold Abstracts 2022 Internation Juried Painting Competition", 2022, Camelback Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ, Camelbackgallery.com, digital painting: "Negotiations" (bronze award)

  • "Everything Blue", 2022, MVA Gallery, Bethlehem, PA, group exhibit, one watercolor painting: "Azul"

  • "Scale", 2022, 3D4D (CSI) Gallery, Chicago, IL, group exhibit, three sculpture pieces: "Corruption", "Gaza" and "Depression".

  • "Mindscapes", 2022, 3D4D (CSI) Gallery, Chicago, IL, group exhibit, two sculpture pieces: "Anxiety", "Tete-a-tete"

  • "Salon!", 2019, Rosza Gallery, Houghton, MI, group exhibit, three sculpture pieces: "Mother and Child", "Skin", "Justice and Inequality" (Also a featured speaker)

  • "Gestures and Facture", 2017,Kerredge Gallery, Hancock, MI, solo exhibit

  • "Pigments and Pixels", 2014, Kerredge Gallery, Hancock, MI, solo exhibit

  • “Elarslie Open 30”, 2013, Trenton City Museum, Trenton, NJ, group exhibit, three paintings/digital prints: “Masa” (Trentpyo Award for Best in Show, Digital Art), “Ugetsu”, “Pheonix Rising”

  • "Humanscape", 2011, Reflection Gallery, Hancock, MI, solo exhibit

Welcome !

Welcome to my art portfolio page.I am sharing several art pieces that reflect my personal interests, thoughts and reactions to my experiences that span several decades. I have separated them into a 2D gallery and a 3D gallery. The art pieces are then collected randomly into several rooms in each gallery, without any specific theme.My main hope is that some of the art pieces could provoke deeper thoughts, memories, or discussions (of course, a few pieces are plain frivolity). My intent is to be able to channel invisible aspects of various art pieces. I aim to not prioritize aesthetics, compositions, logic or skills - although they do provide guidance, these issues nonetheless often distract me from my goals of art making.Upon entering each room of the galleries, the titles are temporarily held back. Hopefully, this allows for independent reactions and thoughts. To see the titles, you can click on the specific art piece. Then, to shift focus on adjacent pieces, just click on the right or left arrows, or swipe the screen right or left.Please take your time and allow for multiple visits of the different rooms. I decided to not apply curatorial judgements to avoid ranking the different pieces and their associated ideas.

             -   Tom Co, 2026

Main Youtube Channel

LinksExhibition (Gallery Talks, etc.)YearTime
➦Archetypes & Complexes
(Kerridge Gallery, Hancock, MI)		202341:27
➦Mindscapes + Scale
(CSI Gallery, Chicago, IL)		20228:30
➦Arabesque
(Rosza Gallery, Houghton, MI)		202210:48
➦
(pt.1)

➦
(pt.2)

Gestures & Facture
(Kerredge Gallery, Hancock, MI)

2017		17:55
(pt.1)

15:16
(pt.2)
➦Pigments & Pixels
(Kerredge Gallery, Hancock, MI)		201410:48

Note: The videos were taken and edited by Faith Morrison.

Links to Some Online Group Exhibits

ExhibitsLinksLocation
2022 New Painting
Site:Brooklyn Gallery		➦Wall 1, painting #8 (Anatomy of the Perpetual Repudiation), #9 (The Inquisition) and #10 (Angry Sky)
Small Works 2025
Main Street Art Gallery		➦Go to time 02:27. "The Immigrant" is last row, second from left.
Digital Directions 2025
Maryland Federation of Art		➦Enter "Co" in [Search] box.
"Convolution" and "Social Media"
Interwoven Worlds 2025
Maryland Federation of Art		➦Enter "Co" in [Search] box.
"The Martyr" and "The Idealist"
2025 Lewton-Brain Foldform Competition➦Juror's Choice, second to last item, "The Red Hole".