Louis Thompson’s work draws inspiration from the aesthetics of taxonomy, scientific research, and medical apparatus. He creates installations which explore these themes through sequences of objects in which mysterious life forms, or mathematical models, appear suspended in a richly-coloured medium. Thompson completed his Master’s degree at the Royal College of Art, London, in 2011 and has been invited to work and teach with glass artists both in the UK and abroad. He was the recipient of two prestigious awards in 2012, the Jerwood Makers Prize Commission and the Best Exhibit Prize at the British Glass Biennale. His work has been exhibited extensively at galleries in the UK, Europe, Japan and the USA and he has created installations for various museums and international exhibitions.
Louis Thompson is one of the most exciting and sought after glass artists working in Britain today. Louis gained his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1988 and has worked with various artists around the world. He has now blown glass with Peter Layton at London Glassblowing for over 18 years. During this time he has also completed a prestigious Masters degree at the Royal College of Art. After completing his masters he was the recipient of two highly prestigious awards, the Jerwood Makers Prize Commission and the Best Exhibit Prize at the British Glass Biennale.
He has exhibited at the International Exhibition of Glass in Kanazawa, Japan, COLLECT at the Saatchi Gallery, London and SOFA Chicago. His work is held in public and museum collections in Germany, Japan, USA, Belgium, Czech Republic and the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. He has completed prestigious artistic residencies at Museum of Glass, Tacoma, Glazenhuis Museum, Belgium and at Soneva Art Glass on the Maldives.
Louis’ work is largely concept-based, taking an idea and exploring its every possibility by shaping and refining both technique and form. Inspired by an installation he made for the Sigmund Freud Museum in London, he began to take great interest in Freud’s writings on dream analysis, creating pieces that combine both scientifically precise apparatus with jars representing captured dreams or emotions. These collections display a sequential narrative; ‘It’s something that’s repeated but not repetitive – taking a form and twisting and distorting it in every way to show the diverse range of possibility of a single object.’
In works he has used his own DNA profile as a starting point to investigate some of these themes. Each group of pieces represents a sequence or a set of DNA markers that contain a DNA helix specimen. It is all part of Louis’ desire to ensure that his works elicit a haptic experience, inviting the viewer to be ‘compelled to touch, to discover for themselves the reality of the art works.’
He lives and works in London.
