From the Artist - A. Thompson:
Simple and exquisite.
Beauty is what you are when I gaze upon you. Beauty is what you give me each and every day.
It has built me. It has completed me. It has paved a way every single day for me to be strong.
Perfect with imperfections.
Beauty is in her smile. Beauty is in her eyes. Beauty is in her hands and in her style.
Beauty she is, when she stands to stare into the unknown to face all odds.
She is the essence of cultures stories; she is the sharing of blessings from generations to generations and the stars beyond.
She is a mother, a sister, a daughter, a wife to life, and a blessing to me.
A blessing to us all.
She protects without knowing she does.
She stands tall, vigorously with passion like the color Red.
She bares strength like many females before.
She is beauty that surrounds us all,
like Mother Nature’s calm and her storm.
She is Beauty in her own way and she is So Strong.
Beauty is a way of protection for me. As children we are told to practice the true nature of beauty before us, behind us, above us and below us. It starts with us, individually with our thoughts, our words, and our actions which is then expressed through our connection with others and the rest of the world. It is in the Navajo Culture that we share the verse, Walk in Beauty. I wanted to capture one of the most beautiful sights of expressing beauty, love and resilient from a standpoint of my emotions. Each color represents what a strong woman is and all her nature. Red is for love and passion she contains. Black is the sadness she may struggle through each day. Blue is for new beginnings and walking into the unknown with a strong stable heart. I use art to share what is in my heart and on my mind. I wanted to share something that means the world to me. I wanted to express the love I have as an artist to the traveling world.
“I love art because I get to tell you my thoughts and express myself with colors. If I told you in words, they’d be plain black and white and that’s just too boring.” - A. Thompson
On each wall she is surrounded by arrowheads. I use them a lot in my art. In our culture, arrowheads are used for protection. She is surrounded by protections; they are running in all directions, protecting her from any forms of negativity. I have also incorporated the + symbol which represent crossing paths and also the stars. This project was a dedication to all the strong Navajo women, mothers, sisters, aunts, and grandmothers. Without a woman we would not exist. This room was done in thoughts of her and my beautiful mother.
About A.Thompson’s Art (ATA):
A.Thompson, a self-taught artist who recently started painting in 2010, as a form of expressing emotions after completing rehabilitation for drugs and alcohol. Since then A.Thompsons Art (ATA) has participated in art shows and galleries across the country showing in Los Angeles to New York from Washington state to Washington D.C. She is an abstract expression artist dabbing in both contemporary and Navajo culture mediums. Studying all forms of art and artist, from older generations to the new age, ATA loves to aim all her work in different directions, different styles and working with different tools to help capture what it is she is trying to express. With a motto, “Let’s decorate the world with more art,” ATA has since increased her drive to succeed in the art world. After returning home to her reservation in the summer of 2014, ATA works and lives out of her studio in Lukachukai Arizona, located near the Chuska Mountains. Coming from a struggling past, ATA feels a great passion for helping and encouraging local and young artist to find a positive outlet with art demonstrations and motivational speaking.