For Lydia C. Thompson, “home” is more than a physical place.
Through ceramic and mixed-media sculptures, the North Carolina artist combines architectural forms, embedded objects and layered storytelling to explore home as a place of memory, loss, and belonging.
Her works become mementos of what has been lost – and what endures.
Artist: Thompson was born and grew up in Columbus, OH, taking art classes at Columbus College of Art and Design on Saturday mornings.
Her family also was a source of inspiration. Her mother, father, and grandmothers all worked with their hands, making quilts, crocheted items, woodwork, and leather goods.
She received a BFA in fine arts from The Ohio State University in 1983, and earned her Master of Fine Arts degree from the New York College of Ceramics at Alfred University in 1985.
While working as an artist over the years, Thompson also has conducted workshops and served as a juror and curator for national and regional exhibitions.
Thompson is a Professor of Art in the Department of Art & Art History at UNC Charlotte, where she lives and maintains a studio.
Art & materials: Hand-built ceramic and mixed-media sculptures ($5,000 to $12,000) using materials such as wood, glass recycled ceramics, furniture, insulation board, paper and fabrics.
Thompson has two current bodies of ceramic work: Abodes/mounds and relics:
- Abodes/mounds: By synthesizing structural remnants, such as aluminum siding, with raw earth, the series proposes a vision of sustainable habitation – one where humanity, architecture and the natural world exist in reciprocal balance.
- Relics: In this work, interior/exterior frames of structures create images that reference the continuous cycles of migration, forced and otherwise. When humans move with objects and leave behind other objects they take on new meaning, Thompson said.
“Relics usually have associations with objects, or heirlooms, or body parts,” said Thompson. “I use historical ceramic figurines and other ceramic objects that once held value or importance to a group of people and reduce them to rubble/shards.
“Both works are investigations of migration and residual ancestral memories that examine space and place of human existence.”
Tools: Rolling pin, wooden paddle, serrated rim and fettling knife.
Inspirations:
- African vernacular architecture.
- Amorphic forms West Africa.
- African American Southern gothic.
- Geographic landscapes.
- Artists including: Betye Saar, Elizabeth Catlett, Martin Puryear, Torkwase Dyson, Beverly Buchanan, John Biggers, and Frank Stella.
Recent awards/honors:
- BADG (Black Artists + Designers Guild) Maker Award. 2026.
- North Carolina recipient of South Arts Southern Prize & State Fellowships for Visual Arts. 2025.
- Awarded the Anne Currier Studio 141 Residency at New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University, Alfred, NY. 2026.
Recent project:
- Group exhibition, “Ceramics as Sculpture,” at ISC Gallery in Pittsburgh, PA. Through Nov. 11.
- Group exhibition. South Arts Southern Prize & State Fellowships for Visual Arts. Louisiana State University Museum of Art. 2026.
What’s next:
- A featured artist with Diaspora in Design at the High Point Market’s Cohab Space in High Point, NC. Oct. 14-17.
- Group exhibition at Miami Basel at DVCAI (Diaspora Vibe Cultural Arts Incubator)) in Miami, FL. Nov. 19 to Feb. 27, 2027.
- Solo exhibition, “Resurrection Landscape,” at Berry College, Moon Gallery, Rome, GA. March 1- April 8, 2027.
Where to buy or inquire: lydiacthompsonart.com and artlydiacthompson@gmail.com
Connect:
- Instagram: @lydiacthompson
- Facebook: Lydia Thompson
