Welcome Artist-in-Residence Roko Fearon

Tom of Finland Foundation welcomes Artist-in-Residence Roko Fearon and his new exhibition, Lost & Found Fantasies. An exploration of identity, heritage, memory, and artistic experimentation, inspired by the Tom of Finland Foundation’s archives and the artist’s personal history.

IN THE ARTIST’S WORDS
My residency at Tom of Finland Foundation has developed into an unexpected exploration of erotic collage, my Swedish heritage, and the personal memories and influences that have shaped my artistic practice.

I began intending to focus primarily on sculpture and illustration, but exploring the extensive archives of erotic imagery led me back to collage, a practice I had not seriously explored since childhood. I spent hours sorting through thousands of photographs and illustrations, discovering artists and imagery that influenced my work going forward. This resulted in a series of original collages, including works incorporating my own drawings and a large-scale homage to erotic artist Bill Ward.

Alongside the collages, I created At the End of the Street, an acrylic painting inspired by the Spanish-style architecture surrounding the Tom House, and Dala Dick, a hand-whittled reinterpretation of Sweden’s iconic Dala horse in my own take on traditional Kurbits decoration. The piece connects the residency to my Swedish heritage and childhood relationship with wood carving.

The Artist-in-Residency has given me the opportunity to work almost like I am back in art school, deliberately exploring unfamiliar materials and processes. I wanted to take advantage of the unique resources and time available here rather than immediately returning to the sculpture I make at home. The collage work would have been nearly impossible to undertake there, and my next project will take this exploration into metalwork, combining collage, comics, and sculpture and learning to cut and weld metal. For me, the residency has become a chance to experiment, learn, and follow unexpected ideas wherever they lead.

Published: 25th August 2026

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