Bio

Tom Dailey is a sculptor and installation artist based in Portland, Maine who loves texture, material, and animals. Born and raised in rural Vermont surrounded by chickens, goats, and town-wide yard sales, Tom finds that the materials he uses echo his upbringing. Fur made from hay, corn husks, and pulped cattails build figures that aren’t quite as they seem. Tom is always searching for what is hidden from immediate perception, material acting as his guide.

Dailey graduated from the Maine College of Art & Design in May 2026 with a BFA in Sculpture with Honors. He has shown work in galleries across Maine including 49 Oak, 82 Parris, Portland Media Center, Buoy, and Sidle House as well as at a nature trail in Southborough, Massachusetts. Additionally, Tom has been featured in publications such as GUT Magazine (Portland, ME), Love & Squalor Literary Magazine (Bronxville, NY), and Collect Art Magazine (Tbilisi, Georgia). Most recently, Tom organized a sculpture pop-up show at Longfellow Garden in Portland, ME.

Artist Statement

Using hay that scratches the skin, corn husks matted into a pulp, and crumbling Froot Loops, I reconstruct familiar figures with textural matter. I question what is revealed in a cereal brand mascot’s crumbling facade, or the endless growth of a domestic cat's whiskers. In the recreation of animals, signs, and mascots, the sculptures I make become faulty actors, performing the role of figures whose presence slowly recedes. The crumbling, aging, and shedding of natural material imbues living qualities in static forms.

Familiarity gives way to discomfort as the naturalized becomes reoriented: a domestic cat rises into a looming sphinx with matted fur, corn husks to a snake-like abstraction, and an exit sign to a scratchy, lean body. In the same way a black cat disappears in darkness, these figures lose definition in their original contexts of grocery stores, scenes on long drives, and zoos. What remains is their gaze; bright yellow eyes, black slivers, and dull circles. Through recontextualization and scale shift, I stage encounters that become obstacles to a passive viewing experience. In search of an answer, a creeping presence is found in a still form.

CV

Solo & Duo Exhibitions

2026 Oct. Splitting Image, Longfellow Garden, Maine Historical Society, Portland, ME
2024 May Untitled Solo Exhibition, Portland New Church, Portland, ME

Selected Group Exhibitions
2026 Nov. - Dec. S.N.O.W, Sidle House, Freeport, ME
June - Sep. Art on the Trails: Time in the Landscape, Beal’s Preserve, Southborough, MA
June Daymere, 82 Parris, Portland, ME
Hungry Eyes, 49 Oak, Portland, ME
May [insert title here]: 2026 BFA Thesis Exhibition, MECA&D, Portland, ME
Feb. - April ARTPM, Buoy Gallery, Kittery, ME
2025 Oct. - Nov. Skeleton Crawl Online Exhibition, Gallery 198, Brooklyn, NY
June BDC 10: Biodesigning the Global Village, Parsons School of Design,
NYC, NY
April - May Cabinet of Curiosities, MECA&D, Portland, ME
March - April Merit Scholarship Competition, MECA&D, Portland, ME
2024 Oct. - Nov. Co-Lab, 49 Oak, Portland, ME
July - Sep. UPLIFTED, Portland Media Center, Portland, ME
June - July Play, 82 Parris, Portland, ME
March - April Merit Scholarship Competition, MECA&D, Portland, ME
2023 Sep. TEST SITE (with Pen Bean and Darwin Jimenez), Fort Gorges,
Casco Bay, Portland, ME

Conferences / Symposiums
2025 Biodesign Challenge Summit, Parsons School of Design, NYC, NY

Publications
2026 Art on the Trails: Time in the Landscape at the Elaine and Phillip Beals Preserve 2026, 10th edition,
Southborough, MA, print. ISBN 979-8-9913811-2-3
Chasing Aurora, Issue 2, Raiya Art Magazine, online
Food Art Issue, 89th Edition, Collect Art Magazine, Tbilisi, Georgia
2025 Love & Squalor Fall 2025 Issue, Sarah Lawrence College Literary Magazine, Bronxville, NY
GUT Magazine - Issue 1, East Haus Gallery, Portland, ME
Portland Drawing Survey August Issue, Portland, ME

Internships
2026 Patricia Brace Studio, Artist Assistant, Portland, ME
2025 Bianca Beck Studio, Artist Assistant, Portland, ME

Awards
2026 ISC Nomination, MECA&D, Portland, ME
2022-2026 Dean’s List, Maine College of Art & Design, Portland, ME
MECA&D Tuition Exchange Scholarship
2025 Finalist Team, Biodesign Challenge Summit
Honorable Mention in Merit Show, MECA&D, Portland, ME
Yale Norfolk Nomination, MECA&D Sculpture, Portland, ME

Press & Media
2026 May “‘Hungry Eyes’ Opens at 49 Oak Street,” Maine Art Scene Magazine, online
Sep. Artist Interview, Collect Art Magazine, Tbilisi, Georgia
2025 Oct. Instagram Featured Artist, The Art Mart, Portland, ME
2024 May Artist Interview, WMPG, Portland, ME

Curatorial Experience
2026 Oct. Co-Curator with Cam Fox, Splitting Image, Longfellow Garden, Maine Historical Society, Portland, ME
June Co-Curator with Bets Ondrey, Cam Fox, and Sophia Sutherland,
Hungry Eyes, 49 Oak, Portland, ME

Selected Employment
2026 Jan. - Oct. Artist Assistant, Patricia Brace Studio, Portland, ME
Supporting artist through administrative and studio work, including but not limited to documenting work,
assisting in applications, and video editing.
2023 Sept. - present The Art Mart, Portland, ME
Sales associate responsible for assisting customers with art supply-related questions.
2026 June - July MECA&D Art Camp TA, Portland, ME
Assisting teachers in classroom for weekly youth and young adult art classes.
2024, 2025 Summer Construction Assistant for Joshua Reiman, Portland, ME
Home foundation demolition, crawlspace wire organization and plastic laying
2025 May-August MECA&D Pre-College RA, Portland ME
Responsible for events and curfews of teenagers attending art program.
Education
2022-2026 Maine College of Art & Design, Portland, Maine BFA in Sculpture with Honors

Work in Collection of
Joshua Christy – Windham, ME
Esduardo Mariscol – Portland, ME

Skills
Welding (MIG, gas, arc, plasma cutting); Casting and mold making (plaster, silicone); Woodworking (band saw, table saw, miter saw, hand tools);
Painting (oil, acrylic, watercolor, gouache, canvas prep, color mixing); Textiles (weaving, felting, hand and machine sewing, draping);
Film and video (Adobe Premiere, Photoshop, DaVinci Resolve, gimbal operation); Photography (documentation of 3D work)