Tom Barnett graduated from a degree in a fine art sculpture at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne in 1995 following which he was invited to take part in the Northern Graduates exhibition in London, 1995. Since then he has worked as a residential artist in an arts colony in the ruins of a huge disused Psychiatric Hospital in Lancashire. He has worked on collaborative performances of varying budgets in the North West with Performer/writer/Director Michael Mayhew. He completed a six month residency in a ceramics centre in Shigaraki Japan which culminated in an exhibition in a temple in Kyoto and a permanently sited installation in a Shinto Shrine in Wakayama.

Since returning to this country he has been actively developing his ideas and practice through a broad range of activities. These include curation and administration of a touring group exhibition of artwork exploring cultural exchange between the UK and Japan; completion of an MA in Ceramics with distinction at the University of Wales Institute, Cardiff; and the co-ordination of a number of scuptural site-specific wood-firings for events such as the 2003 International Ceramics Festival in Aberystwyth and North Devon Ceramics Events 2002.

He is currently working as artist in residence at a school in Surrey.