Hera Gallery

By Hera - November 07, 2019

#Meettheartist
Meet Lee Tonks

"I hope that my art will raise awareness and create dialogue between opposing views and hopefully one of those debates will change someones mind."

Tell us your artist story, some biographical info, when did you decide to be an artist? Why do
you make art? Where did you study? Etc.

Since the age of 15, when I came across a camera and started experimenting with photography, I have always had a camera with me and was always that person clicking away, at the age of 30, I came across the Julia Dean Photo workshops in Venice beach California and started taking fine art photography classes with the likes of Julia Dean, Douglas Kirkland and many other notable professors in the world of photography. My first series "Behind closed doors" won an exhibition at LAGMA at the Municipal art gallery. Since then I have exhibited and been published across the globe and won most of arts most prestigious art competitions.

What do you want people to walk away with after experiencing your work

I don't want them to walk away, I want them to stay there and stare without knowing exactly what it is that draws them, I say that, because this was what an art historian once told me about my work, he said "I can't stop looking at this piece and I can't put my finger on exactly why that is, I'm just drawn to this work"

What influences your work?

Social injustice. When I see social injustice, like the recent murder of Philando Castile, eric Garner, Michael Brown and Laquan McDonald, To name a few, the list is endless, I feel sick to my stomach, how can one human being do this to another? it's barbaric, cruel and unnecessary. I use my art to speak for me and for those afflicted, I have seen my art in different galleries around the world and it always has an impact on people, it always creates dialogue, which I hope can affect change.

What does it mean to you to participate in Hera an exhibiting artist for the In God We Trust
exhibition?

When I saw the exhibition title "In god we trust" I thought it was a perfect fit for my series depicting Jesus Christ on a cross, with the distinction that Jesus is depicted with a skin color that is the same as my daughters skin color and hair type the same as my daughters hair type. I thought that it might be a little too risque for the gallery to exhibit, from the series that I shot, there are other images with my wife on the cross and police officers with guns drawn and the title "Drop your weapon", I felt sure that these images would not get selected as they definitely push some buttons that people do not want to push, people mistakenly think that the series is anti police or anti religion, which could not be further from the truth. I have many friends who are in law enforcement and they are as sickened by these acts of social injustice as I am, this is not saying that all cops are bad cops but it is saying that when a person in a uniform shoots an innocent young black male, it destroys the very fabric of our society. I hope that my art will raise awareness and create dialogue between opposing views and hopefully one of those debates will change someones mind. No one should be scared of art or what it represents.