As a descendant of skilled basket makers, Thomas Langley carries the legacy of ancient and contemporary craft traditions within his creative essence. From a young age, he was enveloped by the raw materials of his trade, with willow—a staple in the basketry of his grandparents—playing a pivotal role not only in his heritage but also in his artistic expression. Instead of following in the direct path of basket making, Langley has innovatively integrated willow into his art in its transformed state as charcoal. This choice reflects a profound connection to his roots while showcasing a distinctive path in image-making, where the materiality of his medium intertwines with the visual narratives he crafts.

Langley's approach to art is deeply entrenched in the mechanics of image creation, where rhythm and composition breathe life into his works. His art is a harmonious blend of gestural and observational mark-making, drawing inspiration from botanical studies and translating them into monochromatic landscapes of charcoal and paint. This methodical pairing of raw material and motif forges a dialogue between abstraction and representation, a testament to Langley's meticulous exploration of visual language.

In Langley's latest series, the focus shifts towards the essence of monochrome and the drawn line's freedom across the canvas. This body of work, while maintaining an allegiance to botanical and floral inspirations, delves deeper into the realm of artistic process and its spatial dynamics. The physicality of Langley's technique—charcoal gliding over canvas in a dance of drawing, scratching, and smudging—evokes urban landscapes and compositions, yet remains firmly rooted in the natural world.

Critique José Pardal Pina highlights the intrinsic dialogue in Langley's work between the tangible and the abstract, emphasizing the deliberate interplay between line and space, presence and absence. This ongoing exploration marks a significant phase in Langley's career, where the act of creation itself becomes the focal point, challenging traditional figurative boundaries to embrace the planar expanse of his canvases.

Langley, born in London in 1986 and a graduate of the Royal Academy Schools in 2018, continues to oscillate between London and Lisbon, creating art that traverses the intersections of painting and drawing. His current endeavors in monochromatic, botanical abstraction not only pay homage to his familial legacy but also embark on a broader examination of the physical and emotional landscapes we navigate. Through his work, Langley invites us to contemplate the essence of place, home, and the human condition, transforming transient shelters into symbols of permanence and protection, and in doing so, captures the universal quest for belonging and comfort.