SANTA FE, NM.- An exhibition of new work by Jeremy Thomas will open at Charlotte Jackson Fine Art on August 7 and run through September 5, 2026, with an opening reception on Friday, August 7, from 5-7 p.m. at the gallery, which is located at 554 S. Guadalupe in the Railyard Art District.

The challenge is there in the title: Of Our Own Making. The person who enters the gallery is entreated to become an active participant in the perception and understanding of the art objects found within. Life asks this of us every day - but it is art that so often provides the space, the paring down, the intensity of focus, which allows us to notice internally where we are stuck, where preconceived ideas interfere with perceptions. Art says: pay attention to your prejudices. Take responsibility for your vision. See with the artist. Bring your full self, your personal history, your emotion and knowledge, with full awareness, into the gallery with you. All that you are, the world itself, will shape your experience.

But these sculptures challenge us in more ways than one. Those familiar with the work of Jeremy Thomas will expect the folded and puckered forms of his inflated cold-rolled steel - but these forms are prickly. Spined, bristled. Their weight balanced precariously on points, and reaching outward and upward with thorny edges. The human brain is wired for a wariness of spikey things, and so these new sharp forms challenge our bias - even as the sumptuousness of their glossy colors and allure of their velvety-textured rust patina, seduce us to come near, get closer.

Deep, brilliant, and intense - the colors saturate the eye. Midnight blue. Iron-rich red. A green that shimmers with depths of blue and violet. A rich, coagulated pink. The palette choices and saturation set the stage for an experience of color that is complex and shifting. An experience of color that pulls and leads the viewer to move around and explore the sculptures closely.

But those spikey forms! Whereas at first we might find a warning in the shapes - soon they begin to feel familiar. Reassuring. Thomas notes that this new exploration of spiny forms began in 2025, and initially came from encountering the bright green, pointed holly leaves in otherwise barren hedgerows on bleak January walks in Wales. Back in New Mexico in his studio, as he explored and worked with these shapes, he realized that "all the pokey things in the world are pokey for a reason..." Plants and creatures evolve spines and spikes, sometimes for protection, but also sometimes so that their seeds can stick to something and be disseminated far and wide. New life from a spikey beginning.

These remarkable new pieces are not the only new explorations that Thomas brings to Of Our Own Making. Also included are a series of small sculptural objects that were printed on a 3D printer from translucent polycarbonate material. These works represent a whole other avenue of exploration for Thomas, utilizing a material that has long fascinated him, and exploring the use of digital technology to create his forms. These forms are lobed and radiant. If the steel sculptures are spikey sea creatures or seed pods - these are nacreous shells or transparent invertebrates. Thomas hand paints the forms, leaving many of the forms' sides translucent and a few opaque. The effect is a luminous confusion of shape and color, a silvery shimmer that seems to contain several stops along the color spectrum. It can be hard to pin down where a curve ends or an edge begins due to the particular quality of the material and how light interacts with pigment.

The challenge here, from Thomas' perspective, is the use of new technologies. It is important, he says, to see digital technology as another useful tool in art-making, but not to give it more weight than it warrants. As he says, "It’s just another tool. It’s just another technique and realm to explore. I think in our digital age, we forget the reason why we make. And how important our human experience is in that making process."

Perhaps this is the final challenge presented in Of Our Own Making. The culmination of these disparate new works is an understanding of Thomas' own stance as an artist in the world; constantly engaging, questioning and bringing those experiences, those discoveries, back into the studio where he interprets and integrates them. It is clear, walking through the gallery, that artmaking is how Thomas makes sense of the world. Whether it is the silken slide of light across one of his new 3D printed pieces, or the way that his spiky forms "catch" you with their spines, beneath it all, Thomas demonstrates to us a way to be in the world.
For More Information:

Charlotte Jackson Fine Art
554 South Guadalupe
Santa Fe, NM 87501
press@charlottejackson.com
505-989-8688
fax 505-989-9898