Rampant Sea, 1999

Galerie de Bellefeuille, Montreal. Private Collection, New York.

“A Conversation with Guido Molinari”, “Tom Hopkins: New Paintings/ Oeuvres recentes”, Galerie de Bellefeuille, Montreal, 1997, pages 4-6.

Hopkins' most compelling artworks are evidence of his belief that tension is the basis for all life. In an interview with Guido Molinari, Hopkins remarked that "tension between two or three colours in a painting is what makes the painting vibrant, all contrasts- warm cool, broad areas against detail, organic against mechanical. And of course in many of my paintings I am interested in the wild versus the tame…" “Rampant Sea” manifests these remarkable tensions; the figures exist in a space which appears to be outside of time, struggling to maintain balance upon the artist's iconic red boat, captured both in a moment of frantic motion and incredible stillness. Hopkins' static red boat, often depicted solitary within a surreal landscape, is now in motion, underscored by the artwork's title “Rampant Sea.” Here, Hopkins successfully combines his greatest landscapes, still lifes and figures into one composition. His dreamlike images are painted with a strong perception of contrasts of colour and texture; the end result is a masterwork which is both striking and enigmatic. He cleverly utilized references to classical art through his subjects and depictions of the human form, yet depicts these themes with a masterful, modern touch. He conflates a flattened modern space, seen at the top of the work, with a Renaissance-style, illusionistic space that we see along the bottom of the work. He thereby creates a fantastic unity of these spaces, joining the past with the present.