Causey Contemporary is pleased to announce Phantasm, featuring the graphite and charcoal drawings of Amanda Dow Thompson.

In the works on paper, Amanda Dow Thompson continues to explore the relationship between reality and illusion. Playing with the contradictory themes of identity, individuality and conformance, the drawings reference transient, translucent marks first made by solid objects. Glimpses that flicker, spin and dissolve, whisper or shriek according to light, time and the viewer’s perspective. There is a sense of metamorphosis; as pieces which start as replication, spare and unadorned, begin to flesh out in layer, abundance and color. With obsessive repetition, and as the lines between positive and negative blur, drawings take on personalities of their own and are yet tied to their original form. The pieces, hung together, begin to tell a story; each image a phase in the journey of the whole. The subject matter appears to disintegrate, char, melt, freeze, or decay. But as the work struggles through the elements, it emerges, fresh, vibrant and melodious, and one is reminded not only of vulnerability but also of resilience. The images breathe, sing and soar in a celebration of our capacity for resourcefulness, for reinvention and for reviviscence.

Amanda Dow Thompson received her BFA in Painting from Rhode Island School of Design and a BA in English Literature from The University of London. She has studied Printmaking at the Royal College of Art and Graphic Design at The London College of Printing. She has been interviewed about her work by TV Espanola and Radio Cadena Sur in Spain and various London publications. As well as showing with Causey Contemporary (formerly Ch’i Contemporary Fine Art ) in Williamsburg,Brooklyn NY. She has collaborated with Antonio Moran and completed a residency at the Espacio Moran de Arte Contemporaneo in Caceres, Spain following her one person show there in 2005. Her drawings have been exhibited at The Royal College of Art and Collins and Hastie Gallery in Chelsea, London where she also showed her sculptures. She has participated in group and solo shows and art fairs in London, Amsterdam, Sao Paulo and on both coasts of the USA.