Ambiguous Presence, Digital Detachment: Thomas J Price’s Commentary on Digital Culture
The placement of public sculpture plays a critical role in redefining the social and political hierarchies relevant to the generation in which it is installed. Contemporary sculptor Thomas J Price (b.1981) subverts traditional norms through unique works that reflect shifting cultural values and modes of perception. The impact of his sculptures lies not only in their site-specificity and monumental scale, but equally in how they redefine traditional hierarchies of representation through placing ordinary figures in prominent locations. A recurring motif in Price’s work is the depiction of a singular figure absorbed in their phone. By foregrounding this quiet digital engagement, he prompts reflection on modern generations’ detachment from the world and the ways we observe and navigate increasingly mediated environments.
Thomas J. Price, Time Unfolding, 2025. Bronze. Photo courtesy of Thomas J Price.
Price studied at Chelsea College of Art before completing his MA at the Royal College of Art in 2006, where he began exploring the language of figural sculpture and the authority they are able to communicate within public spaces. His works subvert traditional narratives, reconsidering who and what is deemed worthy of public representation in the present day. Time Unfolding (2025) was temporarily installed in Florence’s Piazza della Signoria from March until September last year, functioning as a powerful commentary on contemporary culture. Depicting a woman engrossed in her phone, the twelve-foot bronze sculpture was deliberately positioned with her back turned towards the marble Renaissance masterpieces which have defined the square for centuries. Placed between the Palazzo Vecchio and the Loggia della Signoria, and facing away from works by canonical figures such as Michelangelo, Donatello, and Cellini, Time Unfolding redirects attention from traditional mastery toward a contemporary reflection of digital culture.
Thomas J Price, Time Unfolding, 2025. Bronze. Photo courtesy of Made in Tuscany.
Where Renaissance statues assert themselves through heroic gestures and elevated pedestals, Price’s figure is strikingly ordinary, and has often been relabelled ‘A Celebration Of The Ordinary’ in the media. Fully clothed and relaxed, she stands with one leg subtly tilted, entirely absorbed in her phone and indifferent to the grandeur around her. Her posture contrasts sharply with the assertive stances of the surrounding male figures, most of whose gazes confront and overlook the square.
Time Unfolding was installed directly on the ground, without a plinth or pedestal, and is notably the only solo female statue in this historically prominent location. Alongside Price’s unmistakable commentary on modern digital culture, the sculpture additionally serves as a subtle yet powerful disruption of hierarchies of gender, visibility and power. While physically isolated, she remains connected to her own digital network at her fingertips, as Price highlights a shift from public to personal space in contemporary experience.
Thomas J Price, Time Unfolding, 2023. Bronze. Museum Purchase with Gifted Funds from the Sydney and Walda Besthoff Foundation. Photo courtesy of New Orleans Museum of Art.
Price has produced multiple versions of Time Unfolding—all cast in bronze, yet final finishes range from golden tones to a black bronze. The title reflects the figure’s contemporary pose: while she remains absorbed in her phone, time continues to move and unfold around her. A permanent version of Time Unfolding is installed in the New Orleans Museum of Art’s Besthoff Sculpture Garden, where the natural landscape contrasts with her digital focus, emphasising the tension between human attention and the physical world around us. NOMA notably stated that ‘the work is part of a series depicting everyday fictional subjects at a monumental scale—combining traditional sculpting and digital technology to question how society projects ideas and expectations through public space.’
Thomas J. Price, Reaching Out, 2025. Bronze. Photo courtesy of Thomas J Price and The Line.
Price’s exploration of ambiguous figures absorbed in their phones are equally resonant when set in natural landscapes as well as urban environments. Two of his sculptures—Reaching Out (2020) and Network (2013)—are installed along The Line; a contemporary sculpture trail linking the O2 in North Greenwich with the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London. The casual dress of Price’s sculptural figures is particularly emphasised in Network. Price has dressed this man in a sleeveless jacket and loose trousers, resting his right arm—unoccupied by his phone—in his pocket. His casual clothes underline how ordinary figures have rightfully become worthy of public memorialisation in contemporary society. With both feet firmly planted on the ground, he appears to be waiting for something or someone; his phone unfortunately serving as the perfect distraction from the beautiful surrounding scenery. Despite Network depicting a male figure, women frequently occupy the central focus of this ‘phone series’, unmistakably highlighting contemporary digital culture and ongoing conversations around gender and representation. Standing at 9 ft tall, Reaching Out depicts a Black woman in a similar pose; the third sculpture of a Black woman to be permanently installed in London, and the first to be created by a Black sculptor. The work was unveiled in August 2020, at a time when the representation of Black communities was particularly heightened within Britain’s public realm, as artists actively contributed and responded to Black Lives Matter protests.
Thomas J. Price pictured with Reaching Out at The Line, London, 2020. Photo courtesy of the artist and The Line, London. Photo: Jeff Moore.
By reworking the traditional language of sculpture, Thomas J. Price invites viewers to reconsider whose presence is acknowledged in public spaces, and how contemporary life is increasingly mediated by technology. All of his figures, whether a part of this ‘phone series’ or not, are fictional. This encourages viewers to resonate with the themes of isolation and connectedness present in each sculpture, rather than questioning the backstory of that particular individual. While each figure is physically present, their attention is mentally elsewhere, absorbed in private digital spaces that transcend their physical surroundings. Even when situated among some of Florence’s most iconic Renaissance sculptures or immersed in a serene natural landscape, he comments on how one can become absorbed in an overly-accessible intangible world. Price’s work underscores how technology shapes our engagement with art, history, environment, and one another. Each sculpture simultaneously asserts a monumental presence while also evoking subtle detachment, capturing the quiet yet profound realities of contemporary society.
Thomas J. Price, Reaching Out, 2020. Silicone Bronze. Photo courtesy of Thomas J Price.
Sophie Harris
En Plein Air Editor, MADE IN BED