Tim Fry

Music Saves Artist Statement

Tim Fry works with ceramic sculpture, mixed media drawing and public art. Working primarily with clay and the themes of nostalgia and connection through music, Music Saves invites the viewer to participate in the holistic approach of using music to heal and balance their mental health. Tim explores fundamental and rudimentary tools of production, including rolling pins, kitchen knives and household hand tools. Tim then introduces glaze, underglaze, slip, oxide, lustre and tissue transfers and fires at stoneware temperatures. The results are handmade, one-off and uniquely finished sculptures which capture the essence of vintage cassette tapes and the simpler time they were from.

Bio

Tim was born in Sydney in 1985 and currently lives and works in the Northern Rivers of NSW.

He received a Batchelor of Visual Art from Southern Cross University in 2015 and a Diploma of Visual Art from Southbank Tafe in 2009.

Exhibiting consistently since 2008, Tim held a solo exhibition at Lismore regional Gallery in early 2025, in 2023 he exhibited at Sydney and Melbourne affordable art fairs, in 2022 Tim had a solo exhibition in Brisbane at Side Gallery and has recently participated in several group and solo exhibitions in Byron Bay with Jefa Gallery and Elements I Love Byron over the past 5 years.

Tim teaches ceramics and visual art at Tafe and enjoys creating public artwork including painting in Lismore’s back alley gallery and making sculptures for Wollongbar District park.

In 2020 Tim was Highly Commended in the Border Art prize, a Finalist in the Lethbridge Small Scale Art Award and The Byron Arts Magazine Prize. In 2018 and 19 a Finalist in the Lyn McCrea Drawing Prize and Byron Arts Magazine prize. In 2014 a finalist in the Craft NSW Emerging Artist Prize. In 2017 Tim took part in Microgalleries Jakarta residency program.

If Ceramics, Pop art, Street art and Outsider art all had a baby it would be Tims art practice. Tims artistic output infuses pop art inspired imagery with personal narratives, text and lyrics.  His work deals with identity through place and local politics, climate change, mental health, parenthood and nostalgia. Slab built ceramic sculpture and mixed media drawing form the artist’s main repertoire with a strong emphasis on text, accessible imagery, line and bold colour.