David Thomas and the expanded image

This paper discusses the work of Melbourne based artist and academic David Thomas who is known for his innovative ‘paintings’ that often incorporate photographs and the documentation of performance like scenarios.  The result can be argued in terms of an ‘expanded image’ resulting from a contemporary negotiation between photography, painting and performance. Thomas’ works (image/non-image) are sites of a complex set of relationships based around the representation of chronology and the deployment of space in an image formed through the amalgamation of painting, photography and performance. The paper argues that this expanded practice might lead to a breakdown of the historical certainties of each of these fields but in doing so it may make way for a composite practice which allows for new forms of articulation and meaning.