DIRECTORY 2024

Erika Thomas | Video Art & Film

Erika Thomas, born in Brazil in 1964, attended the Escola de Belas Artes in Rio de Janeiro and later pursued a Master's degree in cinema, followed by a Ph.D. in cinema at the University of Paris, Sorbonne Nouvelle in 2001. Currently a professor and researcher in visual arts (cinema, video, and contemporary arts) at the Catholic University of Lille in France, Erika Thomas's primary research focus involves the dialogue between poetry and the visual arts.

As an artist, Erika Thomas views artistic creation as a dynamic relationship with oneself, others, and the world. She believes that artistic work serves as a metaphorical expression containing a "Knowledge that ignores itself," similar to psychoanalysis. Erika Thomas also contends that creating is a lifelong battle against death, a way to avoid symbolic self-destruction and temporary repair. Consequently, the artist feels compelled to create continuously in all aspects of life, utilizing everything as a source of creation to escape torments by giving form and face to inner struggles.

In her current presentation, Erika Thomas intertwines dance (working with the body and its relationship to space), poems (working with language and its relationship to meaning), and video (an essential contemporary medium) with music. Together, they introduce the concept of "shift," which she deems crucial in artistic arrangements—identifying gaps or flaws as gateways to understanding a work's discourse.

erikathomas.free.fr