Thomas Hendry was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He moved to Toronto in 1979 to study art, and has been a Toronto resident since that time. His initial training was at Art’s Sake Inc., an alternative art school, in addition to which he holds a Diploma from the Ontario College of Art, and a Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of Guelph.
Hendry’s work has been exhibited in a number of galleries, including the Workscene Gallery, the Fran Hill Gallery, Propeller Centre, John B. Aird Gallery and the York Quay Gallery at Harbourfront, and the Pendulum Gallery in Vancouver, B.C. His work has also been displayed numerous times at the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition and the Queen west Art Crawl. A number of his drawings appear in poet Phlip Arima’s book Damaged (Insomniac Press, 1998). Hhas self-published a xeroxed album of 60 ink drawings, entitled The Unique Journal Drawings. (Two character designs based on Unique Journal drawings make a cameo appearance in Chris Landreth’s Oscar-winning animated short, Ryan, as well as his more recent film, The Spine.). He also posts an online drawing blog- This Week in Figure Drawings, showcasing more traditional figure drawing. It can be viewed, along with links to a broader sampling selection o his artworks at http://thomasdraws.blogspot.com
His principal medium is drawing, and his favourite subject matter is the human form. He has worked extensively in a wide range of drawing media, especially charcoal, graphite, and ink, on surfaces including western papers, Japanese papers and mylar. His interest in human forms as subject matter alternates between the sensitive depiction of observed individuals through to a deeper consideration of the physical, psychological, and spiritual depths implicit in human beings and the act of representing them. In the recent series of `Biomandala’ drawings, it is the body’s underlying biological structures – and their correspondence to other biological foms – that constitute the jumping-off point for exploration of more formal abstracted compositions.
He is also active as an art educator, primarily in figure drawing. He teaches at the Toronto School of Art, and has also taught at the Haliburton Summer School for the Arts, as well as through the OCAD continuing education program and the Art Gallery of Ontario’s Gallery School.