Elena Thomas
Elena Thomas’s work is driven by a curiosity about the subjectivity of perception. Many of her pieces manipulate light, shadows, and reflections to emphasize a subject or to act as the subject themselves. This curiosity born from several aspects of her identity. She is a cancer survivor, and as such has had to deal with multiple aftereffects of her cancer treatment. One of which is a hypersensitivity to physical stimuli. This informed an early interest exploring the different ways that people experience and react to their surroundings.
“My artwork is centered around spatial relationships and perspective shifts. I am interested in creating opportunities for people to take a second look and to rethink their ideas about what a space, object, or material can be or do.
My sculptures, and installations, are often built with squares as a central or important aspect. As a shape, they represent sturdiness, construction, and structure. A square is also a common shape that I can use to create a variety of perspectives and uncommon moments. I use them as a way to explore spatial relationships. I overlap, interlock, or stack them to create different effects. Because the squares act as a frame, it makes the piece not just about the squares, but also about the space “between or behind them.”