Novella
Therman Statom is recognized internationally for his innovative and experimental combinations of glass, painting, and mixed media in massive site-specific installations and enclosed paintings. His ambitious and elegant sculptures are both structural as well as a transparent. He utilizes these different properties to spectacular and varying effect, creating moments of clarity and opacity, display, and obscurity.
Novella showcases Therman’s ability to blend cultural heritage, personal experiences, and contemporary perspectives through the evocative and mutable medium of glass. Through a carefully curated collection of vibrant glass sculptures from his Omaha, Nebraska studio, Novella celebrates Therman’s unique voice and contribution to the world of contemporary art. Therman’s work appeared in the wake of the American Studio Glass Movement. The artists in this movement were known for their experimental techniques, new sculptural forms, and looking for ways to subvert traditional associations between glass and function.
His room-sized installation Natacion, is a spectacular feat of creativity and engineering, a complex construction that revolves around the power of self-expression, cultural identity, and storytelling. The artist's works often delve into the rich history of the African-American experience while exploring themes of resilience, empowerment, and the power of domestic structures. The insides of the glass framework of his house pieces, such as Marzo, are inhabited by bits and pieces of blown glass, found objects, gestural paintings, and life-like drawing. He has explored additional familiar motifs, such as ladders, reliquaries, and chairs that are poignant exaggerations of common domestic items. He said, “I have always been interested in my work addressing the intuitive and spiritual side of people.”
Therman is also a social activist and teacher. Much of the latter half of his career has been focused on the importance of educational arts programming in Omaha and the Midwest region. Statom has taken a deep interest in organizing creative workshops that are catalysts for social change that also positively impact his local community. Therman’s pedagogical goal is to create an inclusive space that encourages conversations on art, culture, and social issues, emphasizing the power of art as a catalyst for positive change.
This long-overdue exhibition of Therman’s work is an awe-inspiring and thought-provoking experience that celebrates the artistic brilliance and cultural contributions of one of our region’s most prolific artists. Through his mastery of glass as an artistic medium, Therman invites viewers to explore their own reflections and emotions, forging a deeper connection with their shared human experience.
Therman’s long career includes exhibitions at major museums across the United States. Recent one-person exhibitions include those at the Lowe Art Museum of the University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida; Chrysler Museum of Art in Norfolk, Virginia and Toledo Museum of Art, and the Bemis Center for Contemporary Art, Omaha. Therman has exhibited in international museums in Stockholm, Sweden; Paris, France; Hokkaido, Japan and Ensenada, Mexico.
Novella is curated by Christopher Atkins, and is generously supported, in part, by grants from the Gilchrist Foundation, Iowa Arts Council, which exists within the Iowa Economic Development Authority, Humanities Iowa, and the Art Center Association of Sioux City.
Therman Statom: Novella, Sioux City Art Center February 1, 2024 – July 14, 2024
Installation photography by Annick Sjobakken