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[left] They are Us, Us is Them and [right] Impossibly 2017

Hank Willis Thomas uses language and the form of the lenticular print to challenge our subjective perspective. Lenticulars require the viewer to activate the work, as the embedded image changes when observed from different positions. In They are Us, Us is Them, the phrase alters between third person and first person perspective, forcing us to question the artificial boundaries that separate us from one another. In Impossibly, the words “possible,” “possibly” and “impossible” easily shift from optimism to pessimism and back again. In each of these text-based works, we are asked to alter our initial interpretation and consider multiple perspectives at once.