Louis Thompson

Artist Statement

Louis Thompson's recent body of glass work is concerned with ideas of repetition, sequence and multiples. In part, this is stemmed from a long-term fascination with the idea of collections: multiples that record and archive history. The medical apparatus to the scientific aesthetic of research, inquiry and experimentation have proved to be a rich source of inspiration. The tradition of the glass vessel is a continuing reference point for his ideas, exploring the function of containment and confinement and looking at the relationship between exterior and interior spaces. These pieces express a sense of volume, weight, and ambiguity, are they solid or liquid, full or empty. He has a particular interest in distorting and sabotaging the objects by carefully creasing and collapsing the pieces in a particular way during the making process. The pieces begin as very controlled forms but end up as more spontaneous, organic works. Louis has a particular interest in producing groups and collections of objects and so placement, arrangement and composition play an integral part of his creative process. Louis Thompson creates collections of objects where the dialogue and relationship between each element is as essential as the collective composition. Memories of his presence and his physical actions, sometimes are fundamental in how he explores scale, composition and material quality. His pieces pose questions about the material and the idea of function, constantly playing with the viewers' perception to examine what is real and not real.