Tracy Thompson is a Ghanaian artist who explores the latent ability of ubiquitous materials (synthetic or natural) transforming into unrecognisable, strange, new and mimicry form through alchemical processes of dissolution and crystallisation of the varied morphology of things. Her interest in plasticity has been demonstrated in earlier works with the use of Styrofoam, petrol, oilpaint, poromeric leathers, polyester mesh fabrics, polyethylene and polypropylene plastics
Thompson’s practice is greatly influenced by the profound reformations in the art curriculum of the Department of Painting and Sculpture at KNUST inspired by the emancipatory teachings of artist and pedagogue karî’kạchä seid’ou in 2003; which successfully opened the space for independent exploration of artistic interests. Seid’ou’s teachings instigated an experimental approach into the means of producing art, creating room for rigorous attention to material subtleties while being politically sensitive to the interactions between biological, chemical, geological and/or non-human entities.
This has fueled Thompson’s explorations into notions of plasticity, temporality and fluxes informing and being. Thompson’s work has featured in ‘Cornfields in Accra’ (2016) and ‘Orderly Disorderly’ (2017) — two large scale exhibitions organized by blaxTARLINES KUMASI in Accra, Ghana. She has recently participated in the inaugural Stellenbosch Triennial (2020) in South Africa.
