Student Profile

H. Gene Thompson
MFA, Art Studio

H. Gene Thompson is an interdisciplinary artist from Pittsburgh, PA who uses wearable soft sculpture performed with dance and movement to uncover unseen narratives, and explore themes of closeness and isolation. Thompson uses a unique visual language to disrupt expectations and isolating barriers, building inclusive public art performance events that connect people. They work at the intersection of sculpture and performance, using the work to facilitate change in social space, and asking questions about the boundaries of our interactions.

The wearables in their work are membranes visualizing energetic connections, and wearing them is a mirror to reverse the familiar and access hidden truths. When entering the work, the performer sheds their habitual perceptions of themselves and is able to connect to a form of authentic expression. This body-centered work aims to delve deeply into processing emotions around the history of the body and its current context.

Thompson has been a resident artist at Laboratory (Spokane, WA), CASP (Lubbock, TX), Sulfur Studios (Savannah, GA) and AS220 (Providence, RI). They have been the recipient of grants and residencies at a number of organizations such as the Office of Public Art Pittsburgh, BikePGH, G.R. Watershed Association, the New Hazlett Theater, the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, the Kelly-Strayhorn Theater, Neue Kirche Contemporary Art Center, and Future Tenant. BFA 2012, CMU.

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