CURATORIAL REVIEW | September 05, 2025
THE ENERGY OF PAINTING:
Art as a Trace of Inner Experience
Written by Laura Acosta
Between Material and Memory
Tom Roest is not just an artist—he is a transmitter of experience, of emotion, and of perception. His paintings emerge from a need to give form to internal processes: plant medicine journeys, meditations, and visionary states that mark personal transformation. These are not casual experiments; they are direct responses to moments that left a profound energetic imprint. For Roest, painting is not about representation—it is an act of translation.
In his practice, painting becomes a bridge between what happens in the invisible realm and what can be felt or shared tangibly. These works are not sketches of imagination—they are registers of lived intensity. Roest treats the act of painting almost as a ritual: a way to process, to stabilize, to make sense of inner shifts that would otherwise remain unspoken. Each line becomes part of an internal cartography—a map of an experience, a memory, or a transformation.
There is no distancing here, no aestheticization of the spiritual. What we see in his paintings is what he has gone through, honestly and without filter. The result is art that doesn’t demand intellectual interpretation—it asks for presence. It invites the viewer to connect with the work intuitively, to pause, and to feel.
Materials with Memory
Roest’s use of materials is as meaningful as the content of his paintings. His deep connection with the world of antiques—from which he sources aged frames, papers, and forgotten surfaces—shapes both the conceptual and material structure of his work. Many of his pieces are made on paper discovered inside old frames, which he carefully turns over and repurposes. This gesture, seemingly simple, is full of symbolism: a reversal of past function, a reactivation of dormant time, a new beginning on a surface marked by age.
These materials are never neutral—they carry traces of past ownership, time, and use. Roest paints on aged paper precisely for its resonance, believing it holds an energy that new materials lack. Their folds, stains, and textures are integrated into the composition, becoming as vital as ink or gesture. For him, form, content, and material are inseparable, all working together to transmit not just image, but something lived.
‘‘Elevate’, 2023. Intention & inner journey inspired work. Blue ink on aged canvas. 64x55 cm incl. frame.
‘‘Wing’, 2025. Heart intention & inner journey inspired. Black ink on aged paper. Framed in 19th century frame. 56,5x48,5 cm / 22,2x19,1 inch incl. frame.
Inner Journey, Intuition, Intention
Roest structures his practice around three interwoven lines: inner journey, intuition, and intention.
The inner journey is the origin point. Many of his works are responses to expanded states of consciousness—ceremonies involving plant medicine, spontaneous visions, or dream-like encounters. These experiences are not treated as myths or metaphors, but as personal realities that deserve to be processed and shared. In Wing, for example, a deeply moving encounter with a spiritual presence in the form of an owl becomes a painting about transformation and guidance. In Vines to Veins, the experience of receiving divine energy through a tree becomes a visual map of spiritual nourishment.
Intuition is what guides his hand. Roest often doesn’t know what the painting will become until it starts to emerge. This is not about chance—it’s about trust. He follows impulses, shapes, gestures. Only afterward does he begin to understand the meaning behind them. In this sense, his process mirrors the way we process life itself: not always linearly, not always logically, but always truthfully.
And then comes intention—the force that holds it all together. Every work carries an offering, a message, or a wish. Sometimes it's a moment of release, sometimes a silent prayer. But always, there is an opening toward connection. Roest’s intention is not to explain—it is to activate.
‘‘Vines to Veins’, 2025. Heart intention & inner journey inspired. Black ink on aged paper. Framed in 19th century frame. 81x65 cm / 31,9x25,6 inch incl. frame.
‘Discovery’, 2023. Inner journey inspired work. Hammered charcoal & pencil on aged paper. 90x80 cm incl. Frame.
‘‘Germinate’, 2025. Heart intention & inner journey inspired. Black ink on aged paper. Framed in 19th century frame. 82x68 cm / 32,3x26,7 inch incl. frame.
‘‘Riddance’, 2025. Heart intention & inner journey inspired. Blue ink on aged paper. Framed 19th century frame. 77x62 cm / 30,3x24,4 inch incl. frame.
Stories That Leave a Trace
What’s striking about Roest’s paintings is how narrative they are—even in their abstraction. Each work is rooted in a very specific moment, a very specific feeling. In Discovery, he recalls a trauma leaving his body, visualized as black smoke escaping from his right eye. In Germinate, he follows a small skull through layers of decay until his fingers symbolically grow upward from the earth—a rebirth through matter. In Riddance, three Egyptian spirits guide a stream of energy from his shoulder, offering healing through gesture. In Revelations, the atmosphere becomes quieter but no less charged—a field of stillness where clarity and presence emerge from darkness.
These stories are personal, but never self-absorbed. Roest offers them with humility, as witness accounts of what it means to move through difficult, luminous, or ambiguous terrain. The result is a kind of visual testimony—a way of saying: this happened to me, and I offer it to you.
Technically, his materials are simple—ink, cloth, paper—but his handling is precise. Nothing is rushed. Nothing is decorative. His compositions are balanced, restrained, and full of intentional space. The antique frames he uses act almost like reliquaries, preserving not just the image, but the energy behind it.
‘‘Revelations’, 2024. Intention inspired. Pencil & charcoal on aged paper. Framed in antique frame. 49x39 cm / 19,3x15,4 inch incl. frame.
A Sincere Approach to Spiritual Art
Roest’s work stands out in today’s art landscape because it is unapologetically sincere. There is no irony, no detachment—only presence. He does not use spirituality as a theme; he works from it as a lived practice. He is not illustrating symbols; he is recording processes of transformation.
This sincerity is what gives his work emotional weight. His paintings are not loud, but they linger. They do not impose meaning, but they offer space for reflection. They remind us that art can still be a tool for inner work, for healing, and for making sense of what cannot always be said.
Karen Shahar (HALAS), Infinity Unfolds. Challah as ritual, memory, and sacred gesture.
An Invitation to Presence
In the end, Roest’s paintings invite us to slow down. To look, not to decode, but to feel. They offer a moment of quiet in a world that moves fast, a reminder that our inner experiences have form, texture, and value. You do not need to know the full story to connect with them. The work holds space for your own.
Each piece is a trace of something lived—and at the same time, an offering to others. That is what makes Roest’s voice unique. He paints not to impress, but to transmit.
—Laura Acosta
Curator & Creative Director, Arttyco
Written in Barcelona, September 2025
✉ info@arttyco.com | 🌐 www.arttyco.com | IG: @arttyco
Laura Acosta, Curator and Creative Director at Arttyco, combines her background in architecture, interior design, and cultural management to create accessible and engaging contemporary art experiences. Her multidisciplinary approach emphasizes spatial awareness and deep audience connection.
Photographic fragments stitched into a sculptural body of memory and multiplicity.
The central structure anchoring the exhibition with visual and conceptual gravity.
