Memories, Conversations, & Reflections
on Phyllis Thompson’s Evolving Memories
Phyllis Thompson, Parade, 1987. Offset lithograph collage, 23 1/2 x 35 1/2 inches. Courtesy of the artist.
Photo: Aitina Fareed- Cooke, Get Fokus'd Productions, Creatives Rebuild New York.
The layers of meaning Phyllis Thompson wove into her work in Evolving Memories, recently on view at Buffalo Arts Studio, served as a warm invitation for me to receive, analyze, and engage with her art through several lenses. Should I engage with these works as an artist myself? Am I approaching them through the lens of my lived experience as a daughter? A sibling? Are my eyes inspecting her art from the perspective of my role as a mother? A chef? Entering the space as my authentic, whole, and entire self offered me a natural way to process her multifaceted, multilayered visual language. I don’t declare myself an art critic or art expert, but I believe that the intrigue that art provides in our lives, emotionally and mentally, is as necessary as breathing. And so it is with great pleasure and respect that I write this, honoring Phyllis, the person, as well as her arts practice.
Evolving Memories is a retrospective of Thompson’s entire professional art career, spanning some fifty-plus years. If you know Phyllis, you know she is a soft-spoken woman, rather low-key, yet known for the booming volume in which she speaks through her art, which reverberates through the Buffalo Arts Studio gallery space. To get more in tune with her work prior to sinking deeper into my personal analysis, it was important that I connect with Phyllis for a deliberate and focused discussion about Evolving Memories, in her own words. I came to understand that the “memory” components and artifacts in her works were homages and tributes to not only those who preceded her or paved the way, but also those who supported her artistic interests. I found this to be unique and intriguing in itself, as it’s rare to hear an African-American reflect on being supported and encouraged in the arts as a youth in a Black household.
Phyllis Thompson, Ancestors, 2024, installation view, Evolving Memories, Buffalo Arts Studio.
Photo: Christina Buscarino.
From her earliest recollections as a child, Thompson enjoyed drawing and painting in school, where art was her favorite subject. Her parents were very involved and invested in nearly everything she and her siblings pursued, and they made sure to introduce their children to new and unique experiences. Phyllis shared that she always had access to crayons, colored pencils, art kits, and coloring books. Her teachers saw her special interest, talents, and promise as well, further encouraging and influencing her. They also made sure that she was aware of all the art programs offered during and after school, oftentimes even volunteering to transport Phyllis when her parents weren’t available. This is the type of community that surrounded and supported Thompson’s artistic growth and pursuits, which included trips to museums, music centers, theaters, and more throughout Philadelphia. This cocktail of artistic experiences influenced Phyllis greatly, as it created a world for her where art was a valid language of expression and even a possible career choice to consider.
Over the phone, Phyllis reflected on how she became interested in mixed media and printmaking while in college, where her talent quickly drew attention from her professors. Over time, she became enthralled with the suspense of the unpredictable nature of printmaking, relying on process and eagerly pursuing revelation and discovery in the work. Thompson has never been interested in making the same print twice. “I am definitely not a printmaking purist,” said Thompson, and to this day she enjoys creating one-of-a-kind pieces or small editions featuring deliberate, slight variations and adjustments in each.
Phyllis Thompson, Ancestors, 2024, installation view, Evolving Memories, Buffalo Arts Studio.
Photo: Christina Buscarino.
Phyllis walked me through her thought process as she works. “The joy is in the process, not necessarily the end product,” she said. There are moments while she is creating when the work brings her to a halt, the piece communicating to her that it is complete. Other times, she takes longer breaks, putting uncooperative works into a flat file to reconsider later. The pieces stowed away may later lend inspiration and layers for newer works. She finds satisfaction in cycling back to would-be discarded works, rediscovering them with fresh eyes to rejuvenate the making process.
Handwritten descriptions accompany some of the works featured in Evolving Memories. These simple, oversized pieces of paper with elaborate cursive writing are reminiscent of journal pages, old love letters, or handwritten recipes handed down from generations prior. These summaries introduce each series, acting as appetizers for what the viewer is about to experience next. Navigating through the space, you feel a sense of togetherness, love, support, and peace preserved through her memories, presented as etchings, lithographs, collage work and printmaking that reflects Phyllis’s evolution and the people responsible for it.
Phyllis Thompson, Ancestors, 2024, installation view, Evolving Memories, Buffalo Arts Studio. Photo: Christina Buscarino.
Recently, Phyllis found an old box containing photographs of her ancestors. These stimulated her imagination and gave her the opportunity to discover and embrace her legacy. She revisited some images and introduced herself to others to make a beautiful collection of collages paying homage to her loved ones, her mentors, and her guides. These collages are filled with a mixed media menagerie of Thompson’s printmaking, mark-making, painting, and layering. As Phyllis recovered these photos of people who may or may not have similarities to her, she beautifully gave them new life and new voices, reintroducing them in a contemporary context for all to enjoy and find connection with.
You can witness the connection Phyllis has with her ancestors, even the ones she never met, in the altar she has created, Ancestor Installation (2024). It is a perfect homage to the legacy of her family. Here, a small side table covered by a lace doily and topped with a teacup, teapot, and candle joins a chair draped with a vintage quiltlet made up of her grandmother’s so-called “yoyos”: small, repetitive toruses of yarn. All of this in a sacred circle created by salt and bowls, symbols of protection. Walking through this space, I marveled at the fact that she has these images and mementos from her family. I found myself searching each photo to see if by some chance I could find some linkage to my own ancestors. Pondering the possibilities of maybe being distant relatives somehow. Could my great-great-great grandparents have known Phyllis’s family?
by Alexa Joan Wajed
Alexa Joan Wajed is cofounder and Chief Strategy and Operations Officer of Eat Off Art, a collaborative of artists, educators, and entrepreneurs working to build a more empathetic community. She is a born entrepreneur, artist, trained chef, jewelry designer, and curator as well as the manager and momager in the Wajed household of creatives.
“Could my great-great-great grandparents have known Phyllis’s family?”
Phyllis Thompson, Untitled 11, 1987, vegetable print, 30 x 22 inches.
Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Aitina Fareed- Cooke, Get Fokus'd Productions, Creatives Rebuild New York.
I learned from our conversation that Thompson prefers hearing from people about what they gather from her artwork as opposed to talking about or explaining her art at length. Jokingly, she shared, “If I could cloak myself and stay in the corner, I would enjoy hearing people make comments about my work or what conversation is sparked from seeing my pieces on the wall.” As humble as they come, Thompson is all about the work, the process, the doing, letting the artwork live and engage with the audience — for as sure as she is the artist, the art has a life of its own.
The serigraph titled Art Park 2, created in 1976, strikes a chord. It could be the layers that for me represent many things: the challenges in my life I have overcome, the reinvented or rediscovered view of myself over the years, the knowledge and success I have gained over this half century, the family and friends that have come in and gone out of my life. It felt like I was witnessing the layering process and stark simplicity in Thompson’s work through the layers of my own life. As if on cue, Sam Cooke’s “A Change Is Gonna Come” suddenly poured through the gallery speakers. Emotions welled up, and my eyes pricked; I knew I was connected to this piece for some special reason. You can feel the emotion and the familial legacy in Thompson’s work. It makes plain the support she has had over the many years of her life, from the time her teachers and parents recognized her artistic ability to the loving care that curator Shirley Verrico took with this exhibition.
Although this exhibition represented Phyllis Thompson’s memories, experiences, and explorations, it encourages each viewer to honor and investigate their own memories.
Phyllis Thompson, Art Park 2, 1976. Serigraph, 17 x 23 inches.
Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Aitina Fareed- Cooke, Get Fokus'd
Productions, Creatives Rebuild New York.
