Thomas Canning, Show Gallery, Nov 20/06

Thomas Canning, describes himself as a "Dream Warrior."

I was introduced to him by a friend of mine who works at the Daily Bread Foodbank. He is a survivor of rape and abuse, and the Daily Bread gave him a room in their basement to use as a studio.

He is a very unique man, and a unique artist. In his artist statement, which is a collection of things he has said about himself since he cannot read or write, "I dont know if I call myself an artist, I'm trying, thats all."

When describing his work, he said "I like to find weird shapes, and trace them into something else." Many of his works were titled "Outside the Box" with a sequential number, and when explaining the titles he says "I'm no good thinking up titles, but this guy said I should call them Thinking Outside the Box #1, #2 , #3 and so on. Sounds cool to me. I dont know. I just like doing it. It makes me happy."

I would describe his work as psychedelic. As artworks, I didnt find his drawings to be incredibly interesting, but they are very creative. Most of his works are done with Crayola Markers, and cutouts from boxes and computer parts. As he develops his craft over time, I think he could create some stunning artworks.

What makes him special as an artist isnt so much his works, as his story. He gave me parts of the story he is writing about his life. Again, he cannot read or write so his stories are recorded by someone else. His life story begins with "My very first memory from my childhood was waking up in my bedroom late at night and someone entering my room and doing something bad to me. It was so bad that I dreamt to escape the pain." His life story is nowhere near completion, however it is hard to read because of all the pain and hardships he has been through. Its amazing that after going through all of these hardships, he has come out such a strong and good person.

Thomas Canning is an inspiration for all artists. He is very humble, but he has had to overcome so much, and I think it is great the Show Gallery has given him a chance to showcase his talents.