"All my work is about framing and perspective, history and context. How do I shine a light on history in a different way, making the moments feel current and allowing a new relationship to them? And then I was looking at this material called retroflective—even the name implies looking back." —Hank Willis Thomas
In his retroreflective works, Hank Willis Thomas employs an unconventional medium to force an active engagement with the viewer. Thomas appropriated archival photographs of the struggle for civil rights and printed them on a specialized reflective material designed for road signs. The resulting images are light-activated, and are only fully visible through flash photography or special illumination. Like the subjects documented, She’s Beautiful When She’s Angry is its own call to action, entreating the viewer to uncover and discover by presenting a latent image that transforms upon direct interaction with light.
