Black History Month: Barbara Earl Thomas
Thanks again for joining me during Black History Month, when I’m posting a series about Black visual and literary artists who inspire me. Let’s talk about:
Remember the previous blog post, when I made a crack about how rare it is to see a famous contemporary artist visit Seattle? That was only partly true. Barbara Earl Thomas lives here, making larger-than-life Tyvek and paper cut installations. Her work has also been translated into glass and metal. A few things I admire about her:
the stained-glass look of some of her paper work (and real stained-glass at Yale University)
her prodigious ability to convey complex narrative scenes with silhouettes
her persistence in continuing to make work before the world outside Seattle finally acknowledged her genius.
Considering the labor-intensive nature of her work (she has two assistants), she spends a lot of time working in the studio. So it doesn’t happen that often, but occasionally I get to see Thomas out and about at art events and say hi.
Speaking of being busy, Thomas continued to make new pieces during the quarantine days of the pandemic. Tomorrow, I’ll introduce you to the artist who collaborated with her on one of those projects.
