Artist Statement 

Toby Barnes’ artistic practice draws upon his life experience growing up as a Thai American in Miami refugee communities. Barnes’ work examines the diversity of Asian diasporic experience to disrupt assumptions about Asian Art and representations of Asian authenticity. Challenging orientalist interpretations centered on the fetishization of Asian iconography and stolen artifacts, Barnes’ pieces draw on painstaking batik techniques from Indonesia, iconography from Marvel comics, and imagery from Thai cooking such as sticky rice bags to create futuristic landscapes on textile paintings. Drawing inspiration from contemporary and traditional Asian iconography, textiles, spiritual practices, and everyday objects that were part of his childhood, Barnes’ paintings and installations ultimately seek to mediate between digital living and our desire to slow down and carve out spaces of enchantment, reflection, and intentionality to create unimagined languages, forms, and futures. 

Bio 

Toby Barnes, born in Miami, Florida, lives and works in Amherst, Massachusetts. His artwork reflects the hybridity of his own background and includes painting, installation, textile art, and photography. He holds a BFA from The Cooper Union and an MFA from the University of Michigan. His work has been exhibited extensively throughout the United States and abroad, including at P.S.1 MoMA, Queens Museum of the Arts, Locust Projects Miami, VOLTA, NADA, and galleries in Japan, India, and Thailand.