Pamela Thompson portfolio

Work samples

Zero Hour(cast sheep)

Zero Hour (cast sheep) 2022. The form of a life size sheep is made with emergency blankets and needle felted with raw unprocessed sheep fleece. A cast sheep is in crisis when it is on its back because it is unable to right itself. Gases build up in its stomach and make it difficult to breathe. A herder must keep alert and have knowledge to correct this. Those unfamiliar with this dilemma may not recognize the crisis before it is too late. Haven't we all regretted not recognizing and responding to a crisis one time or another? It is part of being human. Approx. Size: 5'x 4' x 3' (life size)
Shepherd's Hand/staff

Shepherd's hand/staff Needle felted wool in the form of a hand using a long tree branch as its armature. This piece represents the importance of touch in our material world, especially from nature. Needle felted wool and a found branch have been transformed into a unique shepherd's staff, a symbol for transhumance, in a herder's lifestyle. 5'x6"x8"
Rock

Using the craft of sculptural needle felting this is made with wool encasing a polyester fill to make a "faux" rock. The rocking chair serves as a verbal and visual pun and plays upon one's perception of touch and memory. 26"x16"x26"
Bag of Wool Bangladesh Market in Yerevan

Wool bag from the Bangladesh market in Yerevan Armenia. This depicts a traditional wool fleece used in domestic mattresses. The women of the household stitch this wool into a type of duvet that remains in the family for decades. They are unstitched, the wool is washed and then restitched seasonally.
Collage on paper made of mixed media, ink, encaustic, pencil, wool and muslin 10"x8"

About Pamela

As an eco-artist, I am deeply invested in exploring human being and non-human beings' relationships to each other and to land. My work juxtaposes natural elements with human-made objects, creating sculptural objects and installations that portray the complex relationships within an environment that express both conflict and harmony.

A recent theme in my art focuses on freedom of movement, access to land, foraging, and… more

View Pamela's Resume

Wool as cultural and environmental symbol

The work in this project is a result from my artist residency in Armenia.

Close up Shepards Hand.jpg

Three dimensional needle felting, a fairly new technique compared to wet felting, began around the 1960's. The physicality of wool includes microscopic "cups" that can stick to one another. A needle is used to poke through layers of fibers and link them together. The additive process is much like clay modeling. Unlike wet felting, weaving or knitting the results can can emphasize the softness of unprocessed fleece.
Shepherd's Hand

Needle felted wool in the form of a hand using a long tree branch as its armature. 5'x6"x8" This piece represents the importance of touch in our material world, especially from nature. Needle felted wool and a found branch have been transformed into a unique shepherd's staff, a symbol for transhumance, in a herder's lifestyle.
Jason and the Golden Fleece2.jpg

Armenian wool felted on wood/metal armature and gold leaf fragments.

Installation footprint 10' x 5' x 5'
Jason and the Golden Fleece

detail of Jason and the Golden Fleece
Jason and the Golden Fleece1

Installation footprint 10' x 5' x 6'

Armenian wool felted over wood/metal armature and metal leaf fragments
Jason and the Golden Fleece1detail.jpg

close up detail of Jason and the Golden Fleece

Reflections from Armenia, drawings

The use of wool in my three dimensional work lead me to research transhumance and the geopolitics the Caucasus region. These drawings reflect my experiences and observations while in an artist residency in Armenia. Transhumance is the practice of nomadic herding which requires humans and animals to cross international borders. This subsistence livelihood that is practiced globally, is being disrupted due climatic, political or economic changes. Art and travel is an opportunity to explore ideas outside my usual cultural realm which provides depth and meaning to my work.

Ethnic Cleansing

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Collateral Damage

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Taking Positions

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Docked Tails

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Christmas

Armenia's official religion is Christian, that of the Armenian Apostolic Church.
In Armenian iconography, the lamb is often portrayed as the victim of attack from a greater power.
Wool at market

The large market in Yerevan sells wool fleeces from which traditional domestic mattresses are made. They become heirlooms as they are used for several generations of a family.
drawing size 10" x 8" ink, encaustic and collaged wool

Felted drawings

abstract drawings based on memory

Missions and crossstones_0.JPG

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Detail of Shepherd's Correspondance

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Shepherds correspondance_0.JPG

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Same Moon Here Too

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Hail in Yerevan

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Imagined Beings and Future Space

Imagined Beings and Future Space. 2021
In the future there will be no definitive boundaries between plant and animal or mineral forms, mass and light, artifice and organism. Felted wool over fig branches, needle felted wool figure with armature and wool needle felted stone/egg shape with synthetic fill.
Fig branches sizes inches: 56h x 24w x 20d, 32h x 28w x20d, 18h x 12d x 10w
Stone/egg shape size inches: 12h x 12w x 15d
Figure size inches: 36h x 4w x 2d

Imagined space.jpg
Stone.jpg

for some reason this image will not turn correct side up

Zero Hour (cast sheep)

Zero Hour (cast sheep) 2022. The form of a life size sheep is made with emergency blankets and needle felted with raw unprocessed sheep fleece. A cast sheep is in crisis when it is on its back because it is unable to right itself. Gases build up in its stomach and make it difficult to breathe. A herder must keep alert and have knowledge to correct this. Those unfamiliar with this dilemma may not recognize the crisis before it is too late. Haven't we all regretted not recognizing and responding to a crisis one time or another? It is part of being human.
Approx. Size: 5'x 4' x 3' (life size)

Zero Hour(cast sheep)

Zero Hour (cast sheep) 2022. The form of a life size sheep is made with emergency blankets and needle felted with raw unprocessed sheep fleece. A cast sheep is in crisis when it is on its back because it is unable to right itself. Gases build up in its stomach and make it difficult to breathe. A herder must keep alert and have knowledge to correct this. Those unfamiliar with this dilemma may not recognize the crisis before it is too late. Haven't we all regretted not recognizing and responding to a crisis one time or another? It is part of being human. Approx. Size: 5'x 4' x 3' (life size)
Zero Hour other view.jpg
Zero hour other view.jpg

Unemployed Oracle

Unemployed Oracle 2022. Seeking relevance in the 21st century for the Greek oracles. Intuitions, premonitions, and belief, have become irrelevant in a scientific-evidenced based society. Needle felted figure/armature, hair shirt and lead strip with stamped letters.
Figure: 30"h x 8"d x 8"w
Lead strips: 10.5"w x 2"h

Unemployed Oracle full figure.jpg
Questions for oracle written on lead.jpg

Questions for the Unemployed Oracle 2022 Stamped letters on 10.5" x 2" lead strips Which way to the unforseen? Is there good grief?
Unemployed oracle other view.jpg

The Flaying of Marsyas Debacle

The Flaying of Marsyas Debacle. 2020 The mythology around the Greek gods often includes brutality. The Flaying of Marsyas is an event where Marsyas challenges the god Apollo to an artistic (musical instruments) competition. King Midas witnesses the competition and claims Marsyas won. Apollo gives Midas donkey ears for being foolish. Apollo declares himself the winner and chooses his prize - that of flaying Marsyas alive. I would like to imagine a better outcome for the story. What if , the mythological characters are now showing their age, perhaps Apollo is forgetful and has to go searching for his knife. It takes so long that Midas helps Marsyas get away. Returning the favor, Marsyas helps Midas remove his ears. Let's hope artistic competitions no longer have this winner take all outcomes.
Donkey ears: Needle felted raw wool on synthetic felt: 14" x 4" x 3"
Marsyas and Midas: Ink on paper 10" x 10"

Midas's Donkey Ears.jpg

2020 Needle felted raw wool on synthetic felt. The donkey ears Apollo gave Midas. 14" x 4" x 3"
Marsyas and Midas.jpg

Marsyas and Midas 2020 Ink on paper 10' x 10'

Displaced Objects

2020 - 2022 Objects found on walks in rural paths and city sidewalks. Replicated in needle felted wool. Perceptual deception/visual pun.
The objects in this project are found objects with their needle felted wool copy adjacent to them. "life-size"

Two Ugly Rocks.jpg

each rock approx.size h4" x d5' x 3"
found objects rural and urban.jpg

chunk of old foam, piece of cinderblock, tree fungus, orange, metal cable clamp, cap for chain link fence post, metal pulley, spike, bone, concrete fragment
clamp and cap.jpg

close up of cable clamp and cap to chain link fence post
shovel head and stones.MP_.jpg

shovel head h6" x w10" x d20" (imagined) stones variable sizes

Aberrant Objects

2021-2022 With my recent attraction to the wool felting process I have found combinations of everyday objects and this modest material brings surprisingly meaningful results. I see expressions of humor, irony, nostalgia, and psychological or spiritual moments.

A head with an eye.jpg

A Head. Needle felted wool on worn, thread bare soccer ball. h22" x d10" x w10"
Cilice.jpg

"Hair Shirt" needle felted raw wool on emergency blanket fabric. h35" x w32" (L)
Cilice other view.jpg
Nest with too many eggs and branch jpg

Needle felted wool bird's nest and eggs. Found branch. h42" x 30" x 20"
Fruit plate for D. Sultan.jpg

Needle felted wool and ceramic plate. h4" x 10" x 10"
Spud baby.jpg

Needle felted wool, embroidery on polyester stuffing. Doll h12" x w4" x d3" Potatoes: approx.3" x 4" (life size)