Ward, Thomas (Tempest Craft)

My name is Thomas Ward and I am a Massachusetts-born metal artist. I forge historically inspired weapons to learn about ancient craft and technology. To me, what makes this a contemporary art practice is that these weapons have no functional use in today’s society. While they are strictly functional objects, they lack any of their functional constructs in the world now. To create them in this place turns them into objects that only sit on a pedestal while informing us about our technological past. I consider it to be equal parts contemporary sculpture and experimental archeology. I graduated from MassArt in Boston in 2011 with Honors and Distinction. During my time there I achieved grants such as the Dondis R. Dondis grant and the Stephen D. Paine Scholarship. After this I received a Fulbright Research Grant to go to Sweden. During my grant period, I was responsible for replicating a 3000lb bronze cannon for an experimental archeology project for Sweden’s Vasa Museum. The museum is based around a 17th-century warship, called “The Vasa,” which was recovered from the harbor of Stockholm and preserved as a 98% original ship. The museum wanted to fire one of Vasa’s cannons to compute its abilities as a warship but could not fire an original for many reasons. The cannon I made was for this task, and the project lasted from November 2012 to October 2014. After that I supported myself with my own skills as a metalworker until 2017 when I accepted a position in the MFA Blacksmithing program at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. During the program, I received entrance into many metalworking and contemporary sculpture shows around the country, as well as scholarships and grant funding, graduating in 2020. Currently, I reside in Istanbul, Turkey, running a workshop focusing on my art, a little teaching, and some work within the film industry in prop making.