Emily C. Thomas works at the intersection of painting, sculpture, performance, film and installation art. Applying techniques from experimental therapies such as self-hypnosis and psychodrama, in her films and performances she assumes transpersonal identities of an enigmatic, feminine persuasion: a Private Eye, Bride of the Ocean, and Abbess of the Galactic Center. In the worlds she creates, domestic and mundane particulars become prima materia for re-enacting cosmogenesis. Washing machines are akin to interstellar wormholes, breaking wind generates aetheric ectoplasm, and a primordial soup is stewing in the kitchen.

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Thomas’s work has been characterized as eco-feminist. She takes cues from animistic philosophies, engaging issues of body politics and planetary consciousness. Reflecting on her own catholic upbringing, Thomas’s recent sculptural work addresses a legacy of repressed female sexuality.