Fred Tomaselli is an American artist known for his mixed media paintings that incorporate natural and synthetic materials, such as plants, pills, and magazine clippings. His works explore themes of perception, hallucination, nature, and popular illusions and psychedelic effects. Merging artistic traditions, Tomaselli creates rich abstract and figurative works using both layered collage and layers of paint. He seals these compositions in resin to encapsulate all elements into a floating surface, imbuing them with a sense of time. In Glenstone’s collection is Migrant Fruit Thugs, 2006, one of Tomaselli’s paintings of birds that celebrate the web of life. Comprised of photocollage, leaves, acrylic paint, gouache, and resin on a large wood panel, the work depicts two birds perched on branches, surrounded by leaves in an otherworldly setting. An avid birdwatcher himself, Tomaselli wants viewers “to escape inside the world of the work.”

–From the Glenstone Field Guide