Talking to Terri Thomas

Question: Tell me about “Hedone”

With “Hedone”, I was positioning notions of feminine self-pleasure in the complex context of my own desires, our media-driven culture, opposing feminist theories and a patriarchal art history.

“Hedone” was about freedom, play, shamelessness, while full of uncertainties, contradictions and having a focus on materials. I had once read that “good art was genderless”, which became an impetus for my adding layers of artifice …a level of craft. The applied ornamentation was my first stab at a “gender- full” aesthetic. But I was also aware of the materials acting as a critical tool …defacement. So, while I was attempting to maintain a sincerity, honesty and exposure to my work, I was simultaneously creating parody and holding up a mirror to society.

Talking to Morgan Slade

Question: Tell me about “Company Of Killers”

Company of Killers is my second show with the Shooting Gallery in San Francisco. For this show I tried to tackle issues of corporate identity, personal histories and Influence of fashion and music. Also I listened to a lot of Death Metal while I worked, which I don’t normally do – and now I’m hooked!

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Talking to Bill Dunlap

Question: Tell me about “Atomic Organic”

He came as a surprise.
I suppose he’s organic
because I am (or try to be).
Atomic?
I don’t know,
really.
I see the end of the world in his face.

“Atomic Organic”

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Question: Tell me about you, your influences?
I fool myself into thinking that I actually have no influences at all – it’s just me, in a vacuum, trusting my intuition and whims. I’m self-taught and prefer art that seems in some way broken. It’s that quality that makes art disruptive, which art should be.

“Marathon Man”

Talking to Heyd Fontenot

Question: Tell me about “It’s a Nude, Nude, Nude, Nude, Nude, Nude World”

It’s a solo show at Inman Gallery. I’ve been represented by Inman for the last 7 years or so. This is my second solo show with them. My artwork usually features my circle of friends, (I photograph them nude and make drawings and paintings, using the photos as resource material). Kerry Inman and Patrick Reynolds who run the gallery thought it would be a fun idea to have the Houston art scene be a part of my work – so, last year I did a few weeks of photo sessions in Houston. I photographed other artists – some of whom I show with at Inman, gallery staff, curators and directors of some of Houston’s museums, writers/journalist/bloggers, collectors…. 35 individuals, total. And so the subject matter of “It’s a Nude, Nude, Nude, Nude, Nude, Nude World” is a whole bunch of Houstonians.
I’m expecting it to be a really fun opening, where every other person at the show is probably also up on the walls, in their birthday suit…!

Also, the title is a take-off on the old movie title, “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World” – which has an incredible cast of actors, and was a favorite of mine as a kid.

“Hana Twice, and Dana” 2010

 

“Two Yets, One with a Knife” 2010

Talking to Kristy Perez

Question: Tell about  ”If at first you dont succeed…”

The piece is titled “If at first you dont succeed…” and comes out of a collection of sculptures I did with a grant I received from the Artist Foundation of San Antonio in 2007. (Chez Bernard grant for underrepresented artists).

It is comprised of a salvaged/restored chair, a hand carved wooden dowel, metal hardware, and 23K gold leaf. The title is based on an idea I came up with as I was looking at the chair in my studio right after I pulled it from trash pile on the east side of San Antonio.

It was broken in three pieces. I put it back together and it was missing a leg in the back. I then noticed that on the upholstered seat of the chair there was a scenario of a young man seemingly trying to have his way with a young girl who seemed to be playing hard to get? I was charmed at that idea and the story seemed to work somehow with this broken down partially restored object I had in front of me. The title then hit me and instead of calling it “If at first you don’t succeed try, try, again” I decided to leave the “try, try, again” off so that the viewer is left to consider what in the end happens when one finds themselves in a hopeless state (i.e. in Love- which btw happened to be the theme for the series of sculptures I was working on for the grant)? The dowel/dagger that goes through the chair cushion becomes a metaphor for penetration/death. But….in the end this dagger ends up being the very thing that keeps the chair up! So there becomes this question (I hope) that we ask
ourselves “If at first you don’t succeed…” is it really the end? or can there be a moment of salvation that is not yet realized?? Must we first suffer through our
pain and heal from our wounds etc.,etc.??

Anyways, I know this was a bit narrative and lengthy but maybe it helps some in making sense of the piece beyond its visual impact.