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Edutainment > Articles on Art > Australian Artists > Nantucket II

Tom Kristensen

Flaggship Siasconset, 2007
copyright Tom Kristensen

Tom Kristensen, born 1962, is a young artist from Australia, working in the tradition of Japanese woodblock printmaking. On this page, he writes about his latest prints "Flaggship Siasconset" and the "Nantucket Sunrise". Both prints show scenery from Nantucket in Massachusetts, U.S.A..

Flaggship Siasconset

William J. Flagg (1818-1898) built his summerhouse on the bluff overlooking the Atlantic at Siasconset village on the east side of Nantucket Island. The location is as far to the east as the United States extends; with each new day the sun shines on Flaggship first. The house is a fine example of the island architecture of the late 19th century.

Each side of the square house is topped with three gabled windows. The strangely jutting gables give the house the maritime appearance of a sailing ship. The cedar roof shingles are set out with an elaborate fish-scale pattern. The scales and the pointed gables also evoke a marine animal.

In the mid 20th century the Benchley family took ownership of Flaggship and spent holidays on the island. Here the young Peter Benchley (1940 -2006) learned of the sea and the Great White Shark that would make his fame as the author of the novel Jaws. In 1975 Steven Spielberg directed the film that bought us the pounding music and the image of the gaping jaws with teeth pointed like daggers. The success of the Jaws franchise was won at the expense of the shark and the fear it inspired increased the culling of sharks. In his later life Benchley regretted the carnage:

"Every year, more than a hundred million sharks are slaughtered by man. It has been estimated that for every human life taken by a shark 4.5 million sharks are killed."

In literary terms Jaws can be read as a remake of the American classic Moby Dick. The dual themes of obsession and extinction run through both books. Herman Melville (1819 - 1891) set his whaling tale on the ship Pequod sailing from Nantucket Harbour. The novel remains the single best description of life onboard a Nantucket whaling ship and was based on Melville's personal experience. The fictional ship is named after the native Perquot tribe who were massacred, dispersed or sold into slavery by the colonists of New England. The Great White Whale relentlessly pursued by Captain Ahab was also hunted to the brink of extinction.

Nantucket Sunrise

Tom Kristensen

Nantucket Sunrise, 2007
copyright Tom Kristensen

This print is based on a photograph taken by Joy McKenzie who holidays on Nantucket Island. The scene captures the moment of transition when the night sky is set alight at the horizon by the rising sun. Joy cannot recall the exact location of the house on the beach:

"It might be one of the side pathways that goes down to either Jetties Beach or Children's Beach, but I'm not SURE".

The scene is like any number of locations on the New England coast where the drifting sand is kept in check by open fencing made from timber slats wired together. Summertime beach visitors are funnelled towards the sand and kept out of the gardens by pathways lined with the slat fences. Every new day brings another set of tramping feet to leave fresh dappled patterns on the sand.

Holidaymakers have settled the coastline of Nantucket since the late 1800's and often the parcels of land for housing included the beach strip. Not all beaches are accessible to visitors and many houses are built perilously close to the water. The sea has already swallowed many buildings. It is not uncommon to find buildings stranded by the eroding seascape and left on props without any fences or hedges to hide behind. Large sections of the Nantucket coastline are subject to slippage and much money has been spent on planting and erosion control. Around the globe more will have to be spent to hold back the rising sea level.

Tom Kristensen
October 2007

The artist was first discovered by Eric van den Ing, co-author of a classic ukiyo-e book "Beauty and Violence" and owner of Saru Gallery. After Eric van den Ing had placed Tom's woodblock prints on his online gallery, a few days later a collector had bought the whole set. Mr. van den Ing seems to have a "magic hand" for new artists. He was the first, and before artelino, to introduce Paul Binnie in 2000 to a larger online community of friends of Japanese prints.

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