kristine thompson

for the record

ARTIST STATEMENT

This exhibition includes photographs made in response to contemporary political and social concerns. I utilize elements from daily newspapers and treat the paper and its contents as objects to alter and recontextualize. Via gestures of removal, collage, and restaging, I reflect upon recent wars, court decisions, displays of political power, displacement, death, and resistance.
The black and white prints are photograms, made in a darkroom by laying pieces of the newspaper directly onto photographic paper. When exposed to light, the content on both sides of the page is merged, resulting in new visual relationships or juxtapositions. In the digital color photographs, newspapers are shaped and staged to draw attention to specific lines of text, to text and image combinations, and to the physicality of the paper itself. Working in a tactile manner allows me to linger with these events and these historical records, an attempt to come to a deeper understanding of them.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Thompson serves as an Associate Professor of Art (Photography) at Louisiana State University, here in Baton Rouge. Dating back to 1999, her work has been featured throughout the United States, including exhibitions in Chicago, Los Angeles, New Orleans, and Denver, among many others. Additionally, she has been involved in more than a half dozen curatorial projects, has had writings published by Phaidon Press and UCR/California Museum of Photography, and has received numerous honors.

This exhibition is presented alongside the latest works from Jeremiah Ariaz and Justin Tyler Bryant. All works from these artists are on view, free of charge, during regular gallery hours (12 - 6 p.m., Tue - Sun) from May 1 - 24, 2026.