Tom Isaacs (b.1985, Oxford, UK) is a contemporary artist, educator, and academic living on Wallumedegal land, Sydney. Tom’s recent solo exhibitions include: ‘In the Flat Field’, 2024 (collab. with Nuno Rodrigues de Sousa) at Chrissie Cotter Gallery, Camperdown, supported by the Inner West Council; and ‘Ad/dressing the Wound’, 2023 at Ellipsis Gallery, Woolloomooloo, supported by the NSW Government through Create NSW.

In his artistic practice, Tom explores themes of mental health, wellbeing, care, and the profound importance of human relationships and connection. He draws inspiration from diverse sources, including psychoanalytic theory, philosophy, poetry, religious and ritual practices, and art history. Tom employs a range of mediums in his artistic practice and is best known for his use of performance and textiles. In recent years, he has been exploring participatory and socially-engaged modes of art practice which engage audiences in the process of art making. This exploration has been supported through his involvement in year two of CASE Incubator, a professional development, knowledge sharing and mentorship program led by the CAD Factory.

In 2022, Tom completed a PhD at Sydney College of the Arts, the University of Sydney. His PhD research concerned the relationship between ritual, psychoanalysis and body art, and how these different streams of thought address the problem of alienation. Since 2022, he has taught a range of subjects at the University of Sydney, including Art History, Performance Studies, and Visual Arts. In the last year, Tom has delivered presentations as part of Louise Bourgeois: Tides and Currents at the Art Gallery of NSW, Archives, Artists & Absences, the 2023 ADSA annual conference in Adelaide, and the Alana Bowden Memorial Seminar at the Chau Chak Wing Museum, the University of Sydney.

Tom is a member of Modern Art Projects Blue Mountains (MAPBM) and the Arts Health Network NSW/ACT (AHNNA).