My friend and co-author Tom Grimsey, who has died aged 54 after suffering from cancer, was a sculptor with a passion for science/art collaborations. This led him to pioneering work in making nanoscience accessible and, most importantly, visible. In collaboration with scientists from Cambridge, Glasgow, Liverpool, Manchester, Nottingham and Sheffield, alongside the sculptor and all-round electromechanical wizard Theo Kaccoufa, he created kinetic installations that showed the remarkable patterns that dancing molecules can create. These installations, under the banner Giants of the Infinitesimal, formed exhibitions at the Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI) in Manchester (2011) and the Sheffield Magna Centre (2012).
Tom was born in Highgate, north London; his mother, Margaret, was a music teacher and his father, Ben, a probation officer. He was the middle brother of three and the family lived in the West Midlands before moving to Exeter. Tom studied at Wimbledon College of Art, London, and then Saint Martin’s college, where he met his wife, Susan Postlethwaite.
At St Martin’s he quickly discovered that heavy, welded metal was his medium; it was probably this highly technical form of sculpture that led him towards science. His sculptures were often commissioned by public bodies, such as the Bethlem Royal Hospital (Trellis Arches, 1997) and Greenwich borough council (Woolwich Ship Tower, 1999). He taught at Brighton University from 2003 until his death, and from 2008 was head of sculpture. His enthusiasm and wide-ranging curiosity made him popular with his students and colleagues alike.
Giants of the Infinitesimal was nurtured in Tom’s studio-workshop in New Cross Gate, south-east London, with great molecular assemblies hanging from the ceiling. Tom believed that science could help art develop beyond what he saw as the cul-de-sac of postmodernist irony. At his instigation, we collaborated on a book, Nanoscience: Giants of the Infinitesimal (2014). Its completion coincided with his shock diagnosis of cancer in the spring.
Tom tackled his last six months with his customary brio. In September he held a magnificent party – “going out with a bang” – at the studio, giving away most of its contents.
One of the Giants’ scientists, Professor Philip Moriarty, has written: “He was an inspiration to artists and scientists alike.”
Tom is survived by Susan, their children, Alfred and Sybil, his parents, and his brothers, Peter and Paul.
