Thomas is an independent artist and curator based in Belfast (NI) they are also a member of Array Collective
EDUCATION
2013-2014 MA Education in Arts and Cultural Settings. King’s College London
2006-2009 BA(hons) Fine Art: Sculpture and Environmental Art. The Glasgow School of Art
AWARDS/GRANTS
2024 Arts Council Northern Ireland ACES recipient
2022-2023 Jerwood Arts Curatorial Accelerator fellow
2022 King’s College London alumni award for contribution to arts and culture
2021 Winner of The Turner Prize with Array Collective
2020 UPHOLD commissioned artist.
2019-2021 The Freelands Foundation emerging artist fellow.
2018 Arts Council of Northern Ireland General Award
RESIDENCIES/DEVELOPMENT
2024 Tyrone Gutherie, AIR
2023 OUTBURST Tongue + Heart Development Fellow
2022 (ongoing) Belfast International Festival of Performance Art committee member
2021 Atelierhaus Quartier am Hafen, Cologne 2021 with Leah Corbett
2021 PS2 Short Residency ‘Part of your World V (intimate actions)’
2019-2021 Community artist Household Belfast
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2024 Audience Development Curator Creative Exchange Studios, Belfast
2021/23 National Museum Northern Ireland Creative Programmer
2021/22 Curatorial Assistant, The MAC Belfast
2018-2021 Catalyst Arts co-director
INDEPENDENT VISUAL ART PRACTICE
Never get much use out of a chair, The MAC, part of mother tongue (2024) with live performance
Travelling the Road, part of Ideal Building Opportunity, PS2 (2024)
Chronicles : A community take over project (2023-2024) Household Belfast
An Evening Botanist and Many Scented Wreaths - Self Determination: A global perspective, IMMA Dublin 2023.
Neverlandz (live performance) - OUTBURST Queer Arts Festival 2023
Buffet (live performance) - Belfast International Festival of Performance Art 2023
Chips with Everything (digital print table-cloth, digital print plates, digital print napkins, clay candle holders, gold leaf) UPHOLD: New Collections 2022 at 35dp Belfast.
Fáinne Ór (gold ring, digital print, clay bowl with foil wrapped clay stones, handkerchief) Aggregate at The Freelands Foundation Gallery 2022.
CHIPS WITH EVERYTHING - (performance walk and community lunch) Belfast Maritime Festival 2021, supported by Household, Belfast.
Seven Card Brag (online sound work and digital print) Belfast Mental Health Arts Festival 2021
Part of your World IV (on air) - (Live and broadcast durational performance) Belfast International Festival of Performance Art 2021
Pass the Baby Under the Donkey - St. Joseph's Church, Sailortown, Belfast. 2020
The Captain’s Table - A community pop-up cafe. Belfast Maritime Festival 2019
Tastes of Sailortown - A series of community workshops for adults and children exploring food heritage in Sailortown 2019-2021
Part of Your World III (New Horizons) - (Live performance with video) Belfast Mental Health Arts Festival, The 343. 2019
Part of Your World III (New Horizons) - (Live performance with video) Array Studios 2019
INDEPENDENT CURATORIAL PRACTICE
Gintlíocht (August 2023) Ulster Folk Museum - an exhibition of contemporary art on the site of 1900’s living museum in Ireland, showcasing the relationship between contemporary practice and heritage skills.
SAM’S EDEN at CCA Derry-Londonderry (July 2023 - September 2023) a group show of work by Yarli Allison, Suds McKenna and Michaela Nash.
SAM’S EDEN two (April 2023) a new queer arts publication commissioned by The MAC Belfast. Working with LGBTQ+ charity The Rainbow Project Northern Ireland.
SAM’S EDEN 1.2 A digitally printed handkerchief and pamphlet (November 2021) commissioned by OUTBURST queer arts festival, to be worn to denote collective experience of the festival in reference to Hal Fischer Gay Semiotics 1977.
SAM’S EDEN - limited edition publication (March 2021) the first issue of Sam’s Eden featured artists and writers as a snapshot of contemporary queer art in a pandemic. Taking its inspiration from the 20th century poet Samuel Steward the publication looks at the spaces in which the queer community has used to hide whether it be in codes, symbolism or digital realms.
Bona Palooza (November 2022) A micro festival at Ulster Folk Museum exploring the hidden stories of LGBTQ+ rural community in Ulster.
The Sky Gives Way - Winter Solstice performance with Emma Brennan and Meabh Mier (December 2021)
COLLABORATIVE PRACTICE
The Night Draws Near - with Clodagh Lavelle. An evening of new commissioned performance work from Belfast based artists at Ulster Museum.
The Black Pig’s Dyke - with Array Collective. Cavan Arts Centre, April/May 2023
The Druthaib’s Ball - with Array Collective. Ulster Museum Belfast, 2023
The Druthaib’s Ball - with Array Collective. Galway Arts Centre, 2022
Stone Soup - with Leah Corbett (Part of Of Course curated by Manuela Moser) Catalyst Arts 2022
Office Hours - Atelierhaus Quartier am Hafen, Cologne 2021 with Leah Corbett.
The Druthaib’s Ball - with Array Collective. The Turner Prize Exhibition 2021 at The Herbert Art Gallery and Museum, Coventry UK
Dance of Description - with Janie Doherty, Jane Butler and Justine Cooper. PSquared (digital only) 2020
HOUR - with Performance Art Bergen at Bergen Kunsthall. Norway. 2020
As Others See Us - with Array Collective. Part of Collaborate! at Jerwood Arts London 2019
Demolition is not a Motive - with Array Collective and Save Cathedral Quarter Campaign, Belfast 2018
TEACHING POSTS
2024 - Guest Lecturer ‘Creative Careers and Sustainable Futures’ The Belfast School of Art
2023 - 2024 - Guest tutor SUNY Purchase, USA - Arts and Humanities undergraduate.
2022/2023 - Guest tutor ARTEZ Masters in ArtistEducator, University of the Arts, The Netherlands
2022 - Guest Lecturer , Masters of Fine Art The Belfast School of Art
2022 - Guest Lecturer, the school of Fine Art, The Glasgow School of Art