Alyssa Marie Thomas

Alyssa Thomas’s work is composed of paintings, drawings, and woodblock prints that illustrate narratives of the past and future in fantastical, colorful ways. She carefully composes her images through her research of  Historical narratives and philosophies of Black Intellectual Thought, Black Feminist Epistemologies, dichotomies of Christianity, and her own multidimensional experiences as a Black Christian woman. She explores complex compositional images that are accessible to the audience, inviting them to engage in active listening, learning, and understanding of the complex topics and ideas surrounding class, race, gender, religion, and access to academia. She centers her approach on New Orleanian styles of applying vibrant colors, coined as “visual jazz” by local artists, as well as detailed markmaking inspired by Albrecht Dürer and Gustave Doré’s styles of drawing narrative compositions. Thomas explores storytelling through imagery and symbols that prompt the viewer to reflect on their existing knowledge and shift their perspective. She places central figures in environments that are both fantastical and historically accurate. Thomas intends to bridge gaps of class and status through her work, while also calling to Afrofuturistic optimism.