SINCLAIR : In exploring the range of concepts within media, the show appears to explore the media's creation of the African American...was this something that you have both tackled in your own work as artists? If so, how do you as curators draw boundaries between your work and that of the artists in the show?

WILLIS THOMAS : In regard to the first question about exploring the range of concepts in the media- well Kalia works only as a curator but in my own work I would say I am probably always working with ideas relating to how African American identity is shaped by advertising and maybe you can see that in my “unbranded” project which is on my web page www.hankthomaswillis.com and also in my “branded” project.
I think from my perspective that the show is an extension of my work as an artist and that’s why I am personally interested in curating shows because I can use the work of other people and other people’s voices to talk about ideas that are related to my own work.

SINCLAIR : Is there a pattern between the works in the show that attempts to discern the relationship between corporate (advertising) America and the black experience?

WILLIS THOMAS : Well I don’t know I would say that it might be in some of the really smart work but I don’t know if any of the artists are really dealing with that so much, maybe Bayete and also Mara Woods but I would like to hear what you think if you see a pattern in that.

SINCLAIR : In the video of the Ms. America/Ms. Texas pageant, we are privy to witnessing the tension between women and the postcolonial legacy of slavery in a brief scene. Can you tell us more about this work?

WILLIS THOMAS : I think you’re right it’s Ms. Texas 2006 and the piece is called the “teenth of June” and for that she takes out an excerpt from the final moments of this Miss Texas contest where this woman is crowned the first black Miss Texas and I think what Lauren is referring to in the piece is the historical reference to June Teenth. Which is Texas being the place where blacks or African slaves are the last to find out about their independence, so maybe in a way she is making reference to Texas being one of the last places where the beauty of African American women is something that comes to the fore front only after having a black Miss America and a black Miss Teen America and a black Miss Universe.

SINCLAIR : How do you unify the works in the show?

WILLIS THOMAS : I think it’s probably best put in the curatorial statement which we wrote, which I am not sure if you got but on the fly I would say that we are working with artists who are a product of, or working in the 21st century and therefore using new media and digital technology to talk about issues that deal with redefining oneself and identity but also in some cases try and put it out front to move beyond discussions of color and moving into issues of identity in general/personal identity in general, cultural ethnicity, some people making off color statements that reference historical representations of blackness and things like that.

SINCLAIR: Are there any future projects in the works with you and Kalia Brooks?

WILLIS THOMAS : I don’t know - I think we are going to have to see what happens, Kalia is currently at the Whitney Independent study program as a curator fellow and I am working on a bunch of projects but hopefully we’ll be able to work on some more projects together and she has written some essays on works of mine and we’ve worked a little bit on each others works but hopefully there’s more of that to come but we’ll see what happens.