Christopher Thomson

Ribera, New Mexico

It was the tumult of the sixties that compelled Christopher Thomson to drop out of Swarthmore College’s engineering program and become an artist.  He believed that if we were to survive as a species we had to experience the wonder of life more deeply and that art could lead the way. He lived on communes and studied with master musicians, potters, and blacksmiths. He sought to express the magic of our existence through craft.  Christopher kayaked the rivers of the Southwest on multiweek solo meditations, walking up their deserted canyons, playing flute for entire days and nights until his mind stilled and music, nature, and he were one.

Over the last 40 years it has been his quest to forge steel with the same improvisational freedom he experienced in those canyons. Ironically, this has required the acquisition of industrial power hammers, forges, and presses and using them continuously until he could employ the flames and forces intuitively. A lifetime of practice allows surrender.

For more information, visit https://christopherthomsonironworks.com/.