Chiffon Thomas

Chiffon Thomas deconstructs body and structure, using layered materials to map the transformation of identity and collective memory. Chiffon Thomas brings an interdisciplinary approach to art through his multifaceted practice, which incorporates sculpture, collage, and drawing. His powerful figurative assemblages explore the challenges of navigating personal identity and the complexities of existence in contemporary society. Through contorted figures and fractured compositions that float seamlessly between historical and contemporary styles and references, Thomas portrays a form of self-expression that emphasizes the human touch at the forefront of his art. Reminiscent of the diverse, mixed media practices exhibited by Robert Rauschenberg, Faith Ringgold, and David Hammons, Thomas’ own application of materiality becomes a language for translating cultural references and personal experiences, expressing themes of affection, desire, and transformation. His sculptures, often featuring fragmented anatomy—casts of faces, torsos, and feet—and architectural elements, create a dialogue between the body and the spaces that shape it. Thomas's work evokes nostalgia, longing, and affirmations of the self while also addressing themes of malleability and regeneration. Through the deconstruction of both body and structure, he highlights a larger narrative of collective experience, suggesting that, like buildings, bodies are in constant flux, broken down and remade in response to their environments, gaining meaning as they simultaneously evolve. Domestic scenes appear to shift in and out of focus, resulting in visceral collisions of abstraction and clarity that invite viewers to decode the fraught relations between memory and reality, visibility and understanding, alongside the rich tapestry of queer experiences. Thomas is the recent recipient of the Joan Mitchell Fellowship and the Fountainhead Residency. Recent exhibitions include Ribbon Sharp, Perrotin, Paris, France (2024); Progeny, Michael Kohn Gallery, Los Angeles, CA (2024); Staircase to the Rose Window, P.P.O.W., New York, NY (2022); Dreaming of Home, Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art, New York, NY, USA (2023); Made in L.A. 2023: Acts of Living, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA (2023); and his first solo museum exhibition Chiffon Thomas: The Cavernous, The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Ridgefield, CT. His work is included in the permanent collections of the MCA Chicago, Chicago, IL; Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD; Crocker Museum, Sacramento, CA; SF MOMA, San Francisco, CA; Studio Museum, Harlem, New York, NY; Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA; Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami, FL; Pérez Art Museum, Miami, FL; Norton Museum, West Palm Beach, FL; Speed Museum of Art, Louisville, KY; Currier Museum of Art, Manchester, NH; and X Museum, Beijing, China; among others.