Chiffon Thomas, 2021
Photo by Vacant Magazine
Chiffon Thomas’ (b. 1991) multifaceted practice incorporates embroidery, collage, drawing, and sculpture to explore the self as split, fractured, and transforming. Identifying as a non-binary queer person of color, Thomas contends with the crafted body in his work, examining wider issues of gender, race and sexuality. Embracing the liminal space between figuration and abstraction, Thomas’ “impossible bodies” forcefully eschew easy classification in order to serve as vessels for personal memories and collective narratives. Reminiscent of the diverse, mixed media practices exhibited by David Hammons, Robert Rauschenberg, Louise Nevelson, and Faith Ringgold, Thomas’ own application of materiality is a unique language for translating both shared and personal experiences. Thomas holds an MFA from Yale University and a BFA from The School of The Art Institute of Chicago. He has completed prominent residencies with the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Skowhegan, ME and the Fountainhead Residency, Miami, FL. His work is in the permanent collections of the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA; Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami, FL; Pérez Art Museum, Miami, FL; and the Currier Museum of Art, Manchester, NH; among others. Thomas is a 2022 recipient of the Joan Mitchell Fellowship. P·P·O·W presented Staircase to the Rose Window, Thomas' first solo exhibition with the gallery, in fall 2022 and his first solo museum exhibition will open in fall 2023 at The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum.
CHIFFON THOMAS
b. 1991, Chicago, IL
Lives and works in Los Angeles, CA
EDUCATION
2020
M.F.A. Painting, Yale University, New Haven, CT
2018
Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Skowhegan, ME
2014
B.F.A. Art Education, The School of The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2023
Chiffon Thomas, The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Ridgefield, CT (forthcoming)
2022
Staircase to the Rose Window, P·P·O·W, New York, NY
2021
Antithesis, Kohn Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2019
Fractured Reality, Goldfinch, Chicago, IL
2018
Soft Show, Roman Susan, Chicago, IL
2015
Roots & Culture, “Yr It,” Gallery Frayed Solo, Chicago, IL
Stitched Perception, Intelligentsia Coffee, IL
SELECT GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2023
Behind abstract forms, Fragment Gallery, New York, NY
2022
Home/Work, San Luis Obispo Museum of Art, San Luis Obispo, CA
Fire Figure Fantasy: Selections from ICA Miami's Collection, ICA Miami, Miami, FL
2021
RECOVERY, P·P·O·W, New York, NY
Surface is Only a Material Vehicle for Spirit, curated by Kennedy Yanko, Kavi Gupta, Chicago, IL
Bitter Nest, Galerie Perrotin, Tokyo, Japan
In Practice: You may go, but this will bring you back, SculptureCenter, Long Island City, NY
2020
A Chance Encounter, curated by Tunji Adeniyi-Jones, Parts & Labor, Beacon, NY
myselves, curated by Joshua Friedman, Kohn Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
I Want to Feel Alive Again, Lyles & King, New York, NY
2019
Shag: Provocative Textiles, curated by Laura Hutson Hunter, Nashville Scene, Nashville, TN
MFA Thesis Show, Yale University, New Haven, CT
Young, Gifted, and Black: Limpkin-Boccuzzi Family Collection of Contemporary Art, Lehman College Art Gallery, Bronx, NY
Hand & I, Dorsky Gallery, Long Island City, NY
The Poetics of Relation, Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, Chicago, IL
2016
Big Painting: Organized by Jonathan Travis, Patrick Parrish Gallery, New York, NY
2015
Paraíso Perdido, Thierry Goldberg, New York, NY
2014
Visual Culture Exhibition “Art Wanted,” Throop Studios, Chicago, IL
Museum of Science and Industry Black Creativity Juried Exhibition, Chicago, IL
Fresh JuJu, Gene Siske, Chicago, IL
MLK Mural Competition International Hostel, Chicago, IL
2013
BFA Exhibition, Sullivan Galleries, Chicago, IL
Museum of Science and Industry Black Creativity Juried Exhibition, Chicago, IL
South Side Community Art Center New Visions Art Exhibition, Chicago, IL
Museum of Science and Industry Black Creativity Juried Exhibition, Chicago, IL
MLK Mural Competition International Hostel, Chicago, IL
2012
SAIC Accreditation Show, Chicago, IL
ExFest Film Screening Stop Motion Animation “Don,” Chicago, IL
2011
SUGS Projects Exhibition, Chicago, IL
MLK Mural Competition International Hostel, Chicago, IL
Museum of Science and Industry Black Creativity Juried Exhibition, Chicago, IL
RESIDENCIES
2020
Fountainhead Residency, Miami, FL
2019
Yale Critical Practice Fellowship Travel Grant, Palazzo Monti, Italy
2018
Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Skowhegan, ME
2017
ACRE, Steuben, WI
LECTURES, PRESENTATIONS, AND WORKSHOPS
2020
Lewis & Clark College, Portland, OR
2018
Hull House Creative Space, Chicago, IL
2017
Fiber Materials, Visiting Artist Talk, King College Prep
Civil Rights Legacy Workshop, University of Chicago Lab School, Chicago, IL
2015
Art Incubator Intersectionality Critique Exchanges, Chicago, IL
Chicago Student Art Education, Intramurals, Chicago, IL
SELECT COLLECTIONS
Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA
Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami, Miami, FL
Beth Rudin DeWoody Collection, Palm Beach, FL
Currier Museum of Art, Manchester, NH
Daniel Berger Founder of Iceberg Projects Collection, Chicago, IL
Diaspora Rhythms Collective, Marvin Wells and Patricia Wells, Chicago, IL
Pérez Art Museum, Miami, FL
Speed Museum of Art, Louisville, KY
Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY
AWARDS
2022
Joan Mitchell Fellow
2015
Best in Mixed Media, Best of Ceramic, Museum of Science and Industry Black Creativity Juried Exhibition, Chicago, IL
2013
Best Animated Short Film, ExFest Film Screening Stop Motion Animation “Don,” Chicago, IL
2011
1st Place in Youth Category, Museum of Science and Industry Black Creativity Juried Exhibition, Chicago, IL
BIBLIOGRAPHY
2020
Baker, M. “Three Art Exhibitions to See this November in Nashville,” Tennessean, Oct. 29.
Vakil, I. “Kohn Gallery’s Group Exhibition ‘myselves’ Explores the Construction of Identity,” Harper’s Bazaar Art, Oct. 10.
Morpugo, D. “Chiffon Thomas in Conversation with Daniela Morpugo,” ODDA, Oct. 8.
Walters, S. “myselves at Kohn Gallery, LA,” Art of Choice, Sep. 26.
Bang, M. “27 Emerging Artists Reflect on the Impacts of Isolation on Selfhood and Community,” L’Officiel Art, Sep. 14.
Lee, Y. “Inside ‘Young, Gifted, and Black’: A Project Celebrating the Great Black Artists of Our Time,” Vogue UK, Aug. 28.
2019
Sargent, A. “Young, Gifted, and Black: A New Generation of Artists,” D.A.P., September.
Reichert, E. “Breakout Artists 2019: Chicago’s Next Generation of Image Makers,” New City Art, April 24.
DeLand, L. “Chanel Chiffon Thomas,” Art in America, April 1.
Gipson, A. “Chanel Chiffon Thomas: Fractured Reality // Goldfinch Projects,” The Seen Journal, Feb. 23.
Chiffon Thomas
Betrothal I, 2021
fabric, embroidery floss, acrylic ink, plaster, fiber glass, resin, wood, styrofoam, metal material lift, led lights
62 x 52 1/2 x 49 ins.
157.5 x 133.3 x 124.5 cm
Chiffon Thomas
Grounded, 2021
concrete, silicone, leather, embroidery floss, rebar wire, pastel, plaster, wood
21 x 49 1/4 x 27 1/2 ins.
53.3 x 125.1 x 69.8 cm
Chiffon Thomas
Two Halves of The Same Woman, 2020
plaster, leather, thread, paint, wood, charcoal
67 x 16 x 16 ins.
170.2 x 40.6 x 40.6 cm
Chiffon Thomas
Animis/Animus, 2020
plaster, fabric, leather, paint, found parts of wooden column, charcoal, embroidery floss, chalk pastel
27 x 16 x 13 1/2 ins.
68.6 x 40.6 x 34.3 cm
Chiffon Thomas
Case, 2020
embroidery floss, thread, found tree bark, acrylic ink, chalk pastel, rebar wire
35 x 23 1/2 x 1 1/2 ins.
88.9 x 59.7 x 3.8 cm
Chiffon Thomas
Betrothal of Aadan, 2019
fabric, plaster, wood, leather, pastel, embroidery floss, thread, foam, metal, charcoal and rust dust
60 x 22 x 10 ins.
152.4 x 55.9 x 25.4 cm
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Today, April 9, Chiffon Thomas debuts their solo show at Kohn Gallery in Los Angeles. Using techniques ranging across hand embroidered mixed media painting, collage, drawing, and sculpture, Thomas examines issues of race, gender, and sexuality. Identifying as a non-binary queer person of color, Thomas’ works examine the difficulties faced by defining one’s identity in contemporary society.
Chiffon Thomas is an interdisciplinary artist whose works range from mixed-media painting and collage to drawing and sculpture.
Chanel Chiffon Thomas’ self-portrait, “Colossians 3:9” shows the artist as a split being. Thomas strikes a stately pose, arms akimbo, staring straight at the viewer, as if daring you to meet their eye.
Chanel Chiffon Thomas’s exhibition at Goldfinch, “Fractured Reality,” featured eight bold assemblages in which thick sinews of embroidery are joined with found fabric, painted canvas, and other mediums to create portraits and genre scenes.
Walking into Chicago’s Goldfinch Projects gallery space, a cluster of paintings greet and orient viewers in the interior of a Black family’s home: an infant sleeping on the chest of a resting father, a smiling mother and her two children, a little Black boy and his father seated at the kitchen table. The paintings are distinctive for their carefully weaved fibers and fabrics, each of which contributes a unique tactility to the work.
