Americana, 2019..
In the sequence of four photographs that comprise Thompson’s Americana series (2019), she continues her exploration of passive stereotypes and the complexities of being a minority in America. This time she focuses her attention on a familiar patriotic theme found on materials sold in home crafts stores. In her sequence of four photos, Thompson repeats the same angle and set which has a fabric backdrop featuring a kitschy American liberty pattern that includes images of the Liberty Bell, the Statue of Liberty, George Washington, and other patriotic symbols mixed in with American flags and stars. In the first image in the sequence she presents just this backdrop. In the foreground of the next image appears a white cotton gloved hand on a dark skinned arm holding a small American flag. This arm and hand belongs to a character Thompson refers to as “The American.” The next image is similar to the last, except the position of the arm has changed, suggesting that “the American” has been waving the flag. In the final image the hand is no longer holding the flag but instead gently pulling away the backdrop cloth to reveal what appears to be a black void.
This sequence of images together act as a kind of puzzle or cipher, with Thompson again asking the viewer to make decisions about what they choose to see. Do you see this patriotic pattern as comforting and celebratory of American values? Or is this backdrop an example of the laughable propaganda that helps to obscure a true reckoning with America’s past? It seems possible that the white cotton glove on the black arm represents a figure at some sort of formal ceremony or service, but deciding the identity of the figure is left up to us. Are they a part of the military, a band leader, a waiter, a pall bearer, an archivist or some other figure? Does the specificity of this American’s identity matter? Or does it depend on whether we see them as celebrating the status quo or attempting to pull back the curtain and reveal another idea of America?
