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Artist Talk: Is That Another Ghost by Vanessa R. Thompson

Join lens based artist, Vanessa R thompson for an in-person discussion about her exhibition, "Is that another Ghost"


Saturday, July 20 | 10:30 AM

Salem Arts Association

159 Derby Street

Salem, MA 01970

There will be fresh donuts and coffee.

A photographic series of multi exposure self-portraits is an exploration of the haunted memories of eating disorders, sexual harassment, death and the shadows of family alcoholism, depression and anxiety all stirred back up by the hormonal whirlwind of aging.

There is no predetermined map to my photographs, just my camera, a pile of props, my body, and sheets of film ready for my thoughts to spill out on to light-stained, ground up bones. It is not until I am standing in my darkroom that I can begin translating the story the film has to tell me.

About the Artist 
Vanessa R. Thompson is a lens bases artist. She never listened when her mother she told her to stop playing with her food. She grew up in the suburbs of Connecticut on a steady diet of 1980s horror films and feminism, seasoned with a dash of disordered eating and splash of punk. Now working out of Salem, MA, she uses items of consumable comfort; food, ephemera, and toys, in her analog photographs that range from abstraction to absurd.

Thompson received an MFA at the Lesley University of Boston, MA, where she studied under Carrie Moyer and Julia Scher. Her work has been shown at Governs Island art fair in NYC, in bait/switch magazine. She is member of Salem art association and Cambridge art association. She uses a collection of vintage film cameras in her home studio populated by an army of creepy dolls, and cranky black cat. 

There will be fresh donuts and coffee.


Exhibit: Our Time on Earth - 18th Annual Inspired by PEM Exhibition

  • Saturday, April 13, 2024
  • 12:00 PM
  • Saturday, May 18, 2024
  • 6:00 PM
  • Salem Arts Association, 159 Derby Street, Salem MA

Our Time on Earth

Inspired by PEM - Our Time on Earth:  Our 18th Annual PEM Inspirational Exhibition invites artists to take inspiration from the PEM exhibition “Our Time on Earth, on view at the Peabody Essex Museum February 17 through June 9, 2024.  From the PEM, “Part of PEM’s Climate + Environment Initiative, this traveling exhibition from the Barbican Centre in London celebrates the power of global creativity to transform the conversation around the climate emergency.” https://www.pem.org/exhibitions/our-time-on-earth 


We challenge our artists to really consider the materials used in pieces created for this exhibit - think about the environmental and climate impacts we make when we create our arts, and ways that we can lift the conversation around climate change and collapse. 

“This exhibition invites us to imagine ways that art, design and science together can help us envision a positive future for our planet,” said Jane Winchell, the Sarah Fraser Robbins Director of PEM’s Dotty Brown Art & Nature Center.

All local artists are invited to submit artwork for this exhibition that explores the themes of our harmonious coexistence with science, nature, sustainability, and the world around us.


  • Reception: Friday, April 12, 2024, 6:00-8:00 PM
  • Exhibition Dates: April 13 – May 18, 2024


Open Saturdays and Sundays from 12:00 – 6:00 p.m.

    Salem Arts Association Galleries, 159 Derby Street, Salem MA 01970

    Contact gallery@salemarts.org with questions.

    Salem Arts Association
    159 Derby Street 
    Salem, MA 01970  
    Phone: 978-745-4850 
    Email: info@SalemArts.org


    Hours 
    Weekends 12-6pm

    Closed: Christmas, Thanksgiving
    and New Years Day 
    Parking: on street when available

                  

    © 2007 - 2024,  Salem Arts Association is a 501(c)(3 )non-profit organization

    159 Derby Street, Salem MA 01970