THE FOCUS

Rachel Bubis: Your recent exhibition at the Parthenon, The Odyssey: A Retelling (2022), takes inspiration from Emily Wilson’s 2017 translation of Homer's epic poem, and highlights the “hospitality of the overlooked identities that made Odysseus’ long journey home possible.” Were you a fan of Homer before this exhibition? Lisa Bachman Jones: I was not a fan before, but I was interested in how Homer’s work was a foundation for Greek education. What propelled selecting Homer and The Odyssey for this project wa...

Rachel Bubis: You mention that your prints "explore our relationship with other living creatures as we become further removed from the natural world.” How did your passion for animals and the environment first begin? Ashton Ludden: I think we all first have that fascination with animals and the wild world when we are children. For me, I’m sure it began in my young childhood, particularly when I was between 2 and 8 when I lived out in the countryside of Western Miss...

Emily C. Thomas creates art at the intersection of painting, sculpture, performance, film and installation. Her work has been characterized as eco-feminist. Taking cues from animistic philosophies, she engages with issues of body politics and planetary consciousness. Applying techniques from experimental therapies such as self-hypnosis and psychodrama, in her films and performances Thomas 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 constructs, domestic...