December, 2011
Damon Thomas led VAA members and guests on a tour of his ceramic studio, showed his most recent sculptures and talked about his Texas artist collection. Damon’s background includes MA from the University of Texas, Austin, and BA from the University of Houston and The Glassell School of Art, MFAH.
Working primarily in clay, Damon J. Thomas creates figurative art that explores the emotional range of the human condition, from loneliness and alienation, to reaching healing and redemption through self-knowledge and companionship with kindred souls.
Many of Thomas’ figures appear to have missing limbs. At first glance this might suggest incompleteness, but on a deeper level, he hopes to communicate the ever-present potential for growth and regeneration.
In addition to his human figures, Thomas also works in organic, nature-inspired forms, where transformation is again a recurrent theme. This body of work includes cocoon-like forms that hint of rebirth, and towering columns that seek to evoke the earth’s rhythms. Birds, as symbols of the spirit, are another recurring motif in his work.
A writer for most of his life, Thomas is the co-author of “The Invisible Church: Finding Spirituality Where You Are,” a book on psychology and spirituality written with J. Pittman McGehee. A native Houstonian, Thomas lives and makes art in the Houston Heights, near where he was born.
Damon exhibits his sculpture at Buchanan Gallery in Galveston. He has had his work accepted into Hanson Galleries, Spotlight on Clay, Clay Houston Sculpture Show, E4 Gallery in Austin, SAO Select: A Glassell School Alumni Exhibition at Tradition Bank, and Glassell Studio School Annual Student Exhibition.
