Noah Thompson
Traces of sky in the children of earth
2023
Trees are miniature models of the universe, microcosms worshiped and admired as a connection between the earth and the heavens, the mundane and the divine. They draw their energy from sunlight, transmuting blue to ultraviolet to green, an endless process of transformation. Traces of sky in the children of earth reflects this process of changing energies through cyanotype photography. I use the silhouettes and bodies of the trees to imprint and abstract their forms onto sensitized cotton, which is then washed in the sea. Each tree in this installation is adorned with the fabric bearing its shadow, taking a piece of the azure sky and bringing it down to earth for pedestrians to discover on their walk around the shore
About the Artist
Noah S. Thompson is a New England-based image maker and storyteller raised between Oregon and New Mexico. Their practice involves investigating the markers, meanings, and mythologies humans give to the natural world. They see these artifacts as portals and use photography to draw connections between them and moments of curiosity. These inquiries are motivated by a sensation of wonder, transforming the taken-for-granted natural world through photography and other media to invite others to reflect, remember, and imagine. Their work is thus often quiet, even ghostly, blending the organic and human-made, the unknown and unknowable, calling for consideration regarding the ways in which we interact with and understand our surroundings.
Noah received their dual BA in English and Art & Art History from Dickinson College before pursuing a career in museum education. Noah is currently an MFA Studio Art candidate at the University of Connecticut. They have exhibited in a variety of venues including the Mattatuck Museum of Art & History, Rhode Island Center for Photographic Arts, birds + Richard Gallery Berlin, and the Da Vinci Art Alliance of Philadelphia. Their work is in the collections of Dickinson College and the MINI Museum of Philadelphia. Noah is also a recent recipient of the Ford/Knauth Fellowship for LGBTQIA+ Artists at the Woodstock Byrdcliffe Guild.