Seattle-based artist Barbara Earl Thomas draws from history, literature, folklore, and biblical stories to address what she calls the plagues of our day, from pervasive violence against Black men and youth, to gun violence, to the climate crisis. Defining herself as a storyteller, the artist notes, "It is the chaos of living and the grief of our time that compels me, philosophically, emotionally, and artistically. I am a witness and a chronicler: I create stories from the apocalypse we live in now and narrate how life goes on in midst of the chaos."
In this exhibition, the artist will create an immersive environment of light and shadowâinhabited by large-scale narrative works in cut paper and glassâthat addresses our preconceived ideas of innocence and guilt, sin and redemption, and the ways in which these notions are assigned and distorted along cultural and racial lines.