BIOGRAPHY
1943-2009
Thomas’ work is wide ranging and, in postmodernist tradition, draws on numerous and diverse references. Aside from geometric abstraction it invokes op art, pueblo patterns, Navajo rugs, the French surfaces/supports movement, Hindu and Buddhist Mandalas, Pink Floyd album covers, minimalist music, Tantric imagery and Islamic art. He made photo collages with family pictures that have Mandala-esque centers and quadrants. He used shaped canvases ranging from triangles to nonagons. His palette varied from pastels to bold cadmiums. Despite this diversity, the work isn’t of an abrasive, postmodern diasporic quality. Some paintings are symmetrical with a very certain center, while the composition of others is determined by chance. All have in common a balanced geometry, meticulous precision, repetition and tightness that at first impression belies the mystical aspects that Thomas openly expected of his work.
