From @spelmanmuseum Lava Thomas: Homecoming August 17 – December 3, 2022 Lava Thomas: Homecoming is the most comprehensive exhibition to date of this contemporary artist’s drawing and installation works addressing the relevance of African American history to our current moment. With a variety of drawing techniques, Thomas creates large portraits inspired by photographs of remarkable African American people to tackle issues of representation and memorialization. Her multidisciplinary practice includes painting, photography, sculpture, and site-specific installations. Across media, Thomas centers ideas that amplify visibility, healing, and empowerment in the face of erasure, trauma and oppression. Lava Thomas: Homecoming brings three bodies of her work together for the first time, Looking Back and Seeing Now (2015–2021), Mugshot Portraits: Women of the Montgomery Bus Boycott (2018–), and Decatur (2022). These works demonstrate Thomas’s dedication to exploring personal and cultural narratives of survival and bravery against the odds. Curated by Bridget Cooks, Professor and Chancellor's Fellow, Department of African American Studies and Department of Art History, University of California, Irvine. This exhibition at Spelman College Museum of Fine Art is made possible by The Wish Foundation. @lavathomas