Heaven & Hell

TJ Norris is an award-winning multidisciplinary conceptual artist and curator whose practice navigates the abstract psychology and social complexities of the urban environment. With a career defined by a "wabi-sabi" sensibility—an intentional focus on the beauty found within the fractured and ephemeral—Norris’s rigorous conceptual foundation was built at the Massachusetts College of Art and the Nova Scotia College of Art & Design.

His cinematic practice, which includes early highlights like the micro-short 'auto-porto-matic' (1993)—curated by Cheryl Dunye for DCTV (NY)—and the two-channel installation 'Infinitus'—recipient of the New American Art Union’s Couture Grant (2008)—has seen a prolific return since 2022. This recent work has earned international recognition, with screenings at the Absurd Film Festival (Best Arthouse Film), the I, Immigrant International Film Festival, the Los Angeles LGBTQ+ Film Festival (Best Short Film), the East Village Film Festival (Honorable Mention), and an upcoming Asian Premiere of 'Elemental Studies' 4-Channel AV Installation at the A4 Art Museum in China. These projects continue his long-term investigation into human dissonance and the indifferent majesty of the natural world.

Norris’s exhibition record spans global institutions and biennials, including the Tacoma Art Museum’s 10th Northwest Biennial, Gallery X (Dublin), and CoCA Seattle. His photographic vision was codified in the monograph 'Shooting Blanks' (2018), and his work has been reviewed in Art Ltd, The Boston Globe, and Leonardo (MIT Press). Founder of the gallery Soundvision, Norris has curated over thirty exhibitions for venues such as Tufts University and the Linnfield College Art Center. His work is held in prominent collections, including the Amon Carter Museum of American Art Library, the Vanhaerents Art Collection, Harvard University, Nike and the Fuller Museum of Art.