Barbara Earl Thomas

It is the chaos of living and the grief of our time that compels me, philosophically, emotionally, and artistically. I am a witness and a chronicler: I create stories from the apocalypse we live in now and narrate how life goes on in midst of the chaos. A central question drives me: What is our responsibility as humans to each other, especially in times of tragedy, violence, death, natural or human disasters? I credit my Southern parents, who migrated to Washington pre-WWII, for my ability to tell a good story. Dramatic tension helps me draw viewers in, finding their own meanings and connections, as I reference the issues most pressing to our own time—from environmental harm, gun violence, or the continuing needless loss of our young Black men. Sometimes I leave a bit of a fairy tale, or a Bible story, entwined with a current event; all are, at their core, archetypal struggles of tragedy, humor, and violence of our everyday lives.