Reaching out
2023

• Thomas J PRICE

Referencing Western sculptural traditions, Thomas J Price’s works play with methods of presentation, material and scale, to highlight the inadequate and prejudiced representations of Black people today and throughout history.

This large-scale sculpture stands directly on the ground, eschewing the elevated position and implicit ‘elevation’ of a statue on a plinth in public space. It confronts the lack of people of colour represented in public statuary. Intentionally ambiguous, Price’s figures do not depict a certain individual, but are instead drawn from an amalgamation of found sources, including observed individuals and stereotypes represented in the media. In this way, Price’s works serve more accurately as psychological portraits of the viewer, prompting them to consider their own socially learnt attitudes and assumptions.