Thomas Holland
Born in 1997 in Ilford, Thomas Holland’s work explores Identity through sculpture, instillation, photography and sound. While Holland’s work is personal and draws from lived experiences as a working class person from Essex, Holland strive’s to create work that feels universal, Holland makes love letters to the working class experience and hopes to create a sense of understanding through shared emotions.
Holland creates work through the guise of “The Island”, a fictional island made from his own psyche and need to express the deeper meaning of his own psychosis and delusions. Translating into physical objects, images and sounds.
A majority of Holland’s work tends to involve the audience, wether through purposeful activation of the work or accidental involvement.
Holland creates work through the guise of “The Island”, a fictional island made from his own psyche and need to express the deeper meaning of his own psychosis and delusions. Translating into physical objects, images and sounds.
A majority of Holland’s work tends to involve the audience, wether through purposeful activation of the work or accidental involvement.
PRESS
FAD Magazine
https://fadmagazine.com/2025/05/07/home-is-where-the-art-is-by-grafters-collective-at-hypha-hq/
Garden of Sonic Delights
www.mixcloud.com/Frankie_Ruth/thomas-holland/
Love Magazine
(Due to the website being taken down I am using a website archive link to the interview)
https://web.archive.org/web/20201001215123/www.thelovemagazine.co.uk/article/csm-performer-and-artist-thomas-holland-on-performativity-and-camp-sci-fi
EXHIBITIONS
Home Is Where The Art Is -2025-
Hypha Studios
Concrete Dreams: Just Can’t Get enough -2024-
https://www.firstsite.uk/event/concrete-dreams-just-cant-get-enough/
Behind the Rainbow -2023-
https://www.chelmsford.gov.uk/museums/whats-on/temporary-exhibitions/behind-the-rainbow/
Finding Home -2022-
https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain/tate-britain-gallery
Intimate Simulacrum Virtual Exhibition -2021-
(Link no longer active)
Art Number 23 Virtual Exhibition -2021-
(link no longer active)
I Dance The Other -2020-
idancetheother.hotglue.me/
Lilith -2019-
www.instagram.com/houlecollective/
Hypha Studios
Concrete Dreams: Just Can’t Get enough -2024-
https://www.firstsite.uk/event/concrete-dreams-just-cant-get-enough/
Behind the Rainbow -2023-
https://www.chelmsford.gov.uk/museums/whats-on/temporary-exhibitions/behind-the-rainbow/
Finding Home -2022-
https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain/tate-britain-gallery
Intimate Simulacrum Virtual Exhibition -2021-
(Link no longer active)
Art Number 23 Virtual Exhibition -2021-
(link no longer active)
I Dance The Other -2020-
idancetheother.hotglue.me/
Lilith -2019-
www.instagram.com/houlecollective/
‘The Essex’ 2019-
This project is exploring the themes of identity and the metaphysics of space through the lens of my home county of Essex. I am delving into the Essex Stereotype, where it came from and how it became what it is today.
To the Women I Love, 2025
To the women I Love, is a three part sculptural intervention - a love letter to the women in my life.
I thought of how best to write this love letter and decided to create a Goddess of protection who I dubed “Gytha”, a Saxon name which means “warlike”, the first sculpture in this set, I contacted Dr. Sue Brunning and Dr. Sophia Adams, both curators at the British Museum for assistance with research and how to get the historical accuracy I wanted to, however this would soon fade and a more mystical idea of this Goddess took place.
Her companion is a stag called Herewulf, a Saxon name to mean “army-wolf”, or a companion warrior, he came about from the need to give her a male counterpart, someone to represent me in this series. He is there to help Gytha with her duties.
The final piece in this series is “Trish, 1993”, a photograph of my mum from her wedding day, hung on satin, I wanted to help contextualise the sculptures by showcasing one of the women the work is about, the most important woman in my life, my mum.
The work is made from found materials and blurs the lines of traditional femininity and masculinity, Gytha has a hard, typically masculine face in a warrior pose on top of a chariot. A combination of masculinity and femininity. The same can be said for Herewulf, a stag made from a cherry tree with flowers and a childlike face but with a protruding erect phallus, rough in skin but soft in face and temperament. All pieces of this work have been found or bought for cheap in order to create this folk-inspired series of works. They can be seen as individuals of together and the ideas of protection will still be visible throughout.
The Spider, The Fae Thing and The Witch 2024-2025
This sculpture is a representation of the 1968 Ford Dagenham, Sewing Machinist Strike, a strike that would lead to the formation of the 1970 Equal Pay Act. I find spiders to be fascinating animals, their ability to weave and sew webs of such intricate design and I relate them to motherhood. Not sure why I relate spiders to motherhood but I do, this is something I am taking time to realise and find reason behind the connection.
This work is still a work in progress and its final form will have an eerier feel to it, as though this robotic spider is coming down from the ceiling.
This work is still a work in progress and its final form will have an eerier feel to it, as though this robotic spider is coming down from the ceiling.
These two sculptures are the Fae Thing (left) and The Witch (right), they are sister sculptures to The Spider as these are representations of visual hallucinations I have, while The Fae Thing is benevolent and tends to just be a watcher, The Witch has malevolent energy and wishes to do me harm. Of course I’m aware these things aren’t real but my brain can’t help but see them as such and I find myself in fear of The Witch who waits by my window.
I experimented with new ways of displaying titles by using two large encyclopaedias tabbed at the word and definition of the titles of these two sculptures.
I experimented with new ways of displaying titles by using two large encyclopaedias tabbed at the word and definition of the titles of these two sculptures.
Incidental 2024
Incidental, both the title and theme, is a performance based exhibition organised by Helena Goldwater, held in the Lethaby Gallery. My work titled, To Love, Life and Liberty explored my schizophrenia and issues with memory. I look heavily at personal identities within my practice and while focusing on Essex I decided to do some introspection and look at myself and how I struggle to remember my past and if my memories are real or fake. The sound I made to accompany this is a reflection of my personal view of myself and a struggle with my fading memories.
