A walk through the mind of Tori Swedosh
by Greg Swedosh
7th April 2025
THE VIBRANT colours and captivating details in Tori Swedosh’s paintings instantly leap out at you from the canvas.
And then you notice the eyes, which peek at you from all corners.
Semi-abstract in nature with a touch of the surreal, the work in her upcoming exhibition at NaNY Gallery, entitled It’s Always Now, is a thought-provoking collection of acrylic on canvas paintings, mostly representing the “weird characters” that she sees in her head.
These are often framed by a collage of textual affirmations or sayings around the outside border.
“The pictures come in, and I see them in my head.
“I’ve got to get them out.
“It was like, these monsters particularly, they’re like weird characters.
“Weird creatures that troll around in my head, and I need to make them.
“I need to get them out”.
Art has been a part of Tori’s life since she was young.
She studied art in high school before doing Year 12 (TOP) at Box Hill TAFE, where she was exposed to various visual art disciplines.
She was then selected to study at the prestigious Victorian College of the Arts, but her journey wasn’t always smooth.
“In TOP, I was really lazy in the beginning because it was like a party.
“I just wanted to have fun.
“I had a shaved head and wore Doc Martins and thought that was being an artist.
“Then I got a call from the school saying that I’d better pull my finger out or they would kick me out.
“And I thought, oh, okay, I better do something.
“I discovered printmaking.
“I was really excited by it and could do it fast.
“I’d lie in bed cutting lino with all my lino chips piled up around me.
“And I made this amazing folio.
“So, when I turned up for college interviews, I had a folio of around 50 prints when most of the other people applying probably had maybe 10”.
Over the years, Tori has worked in various mediums, including printmaking, oil pastel, and acrylic paint, to her current passion for ceramic sculpture.
Her influences include, among others, the works of Chagall, Basquiat, Dali, and a touch of Picasso.
She has exhibited widely, from Melbourne to Berlin.
Somehow in the middle, she’s raised three children, although that pursuit took precedence over being a working artist.
“I’ve always had to make pictures, but having children, I found that I’m not really very good at doing more than one thing well at a time.
“So, when I had kids, I didn’t have space for pictures.
“They would still come into my head, and I’d try to make them, but it was all very sporadic.
“And then everything became about kids.
“They are so overwhelmingly time-consuming.
“They take everything.
“And I couldn’t see how I could have been a full-time artist and a very good mum.
“Now the kids are at an age where two are looking after themselves, and the youngest is pretty self-sufficient, so I actually have time.
“And now that I’m running the gallery, I realise what is needed.”
The gallery to which Tori refers is NaNY Gallery, which was her brainchild.
Having produced a large body of work during Covid, she went searching for a place to exhibit.
Now and Not Yet café generously said they would provide their premises for an exhibition complete with opening night.
She instantly thought this would be a great forum for other Warrandyte artists to show their work, and partnering with fellow artist Jacinta Payne, they established the gallery in 2022, helping to bring the work of many new and established artists to the Warrandyte community.
In that time, Tori has come to understand the business side of art much more, which is essential for any working artist who wants to make a living through their creative endeavours.
“I always have felt like art was what I was going to do in life.
“But other than making stuff, I didn’t really know how to be an artist.
“I didn’t know anything about the business of art or the commitment that it actually takes.
“That it has to be a business.
“It has to be like a nine-to-five job, except longer, because it comes from your insides rather than just turning up somewhere and doing something.
“It has to be constant.”
The themes in Tori’s work often reflect the struggle we all have to find balance in life and balance in mind while trying to reconcile competing thoughts and ideas.
“My work is a kind of a reflection of what’s going on inside my mind.
“So, it’s more of a self-exploration than saying something directly.
“Hopefully, someone else can see it and think, ah, that’s me too.
“I have that same battle of self-destruction in my mind and an addictive personality.
“All those kinds of human struggles.
“I really like contemporary art. I like ideas, and I like pictures that change something about the way you think about things or the way you see things, even if it’s not always obvious.
“This exhibition is called It’s Always Now, and it contains paintings from a big period in my life.
“They’re very colourful, they’re very bright.
“They relate to the idea that there’s only now, and about living in the moment.
“I think I do that, but I’m very emotional, so there’s lots of ups and downs.”
It’s Always Now opens at NaNY Gallery, Now & Not Yet Café, Yarra Street, on Sunday, April 13, from 5pm, and runs until May 31.
See @toriswedosh_art on Instagram or Facebook to follow Tori’s prolific creative output.
