Signs and Symbols:
The Trees are Talking
by Rejina Thomas

On display January 11 - August 13, 2023
Opening Reception: Saturday, January 21 | 4:30-7:00pm

The Neill-Cochran House Museum is honored to present Signs and Symbols: The Trees are Talking. This one-woman show features the work of longtime Austin artist Rejina Thomas.

Visit the NCHM Wed-Sun, 11-4pm, to see Signs and Symbols: The Trees are Talking, and don't miss the NCHM Gift Shop where you'll find signed prints, notecards, bookmarks, and original hand-etched glasses by the artist. You can also purchase original paintings and glasswork!

Thomas, who traces her roots to urban Los Angeles and the rural South, moved to Austin in the 1970s with the Air Force and then remained here to establish a career as a glass artist and painter. She established a graphic glass studio as well as Pine Street Station. Pine Street Station, open 2007-2015, became the first East Austin hub for Austin creatives and the location for the first SXSW Levi Fader Fort event.

This exhibition will feature more than 40 works of glass and oil on canvas that explore Thomas' understanding of the way signs and symbols constantly surround us in both the natural and built environments. Her creativity has as timelessness to it that blurs present and past, reminding us that we are all connected not only to one another but to those who came before us and those who will follow. Navigating America, and, for many decades Austin, as a Black woman has given Thomas perspective on her own heritage as well as the cultural ties that bind us across races and ethnicities.

Signs and Symbols: The Trees are Talking is sponsored by Art League of Austin - Group 1.

Reji Thomas, Woman with Vase Still Life (2006). Oil on Canvas, 48 x 48 in. Collection of the artist.

Reji Thomas, Black Orpheus (2008). Oil on Canvas, 47.5 x 59.75 in. Private Collection.

Reji Thomas, Cousin (n.d.). Oil on Canvas, 24 x 30 in. Collection of the artist.

Reji Thomas, Hurry Up and Wait (2016). Oil on hardboard, 21.5 x 31.75 in. Collection of the artist.

Reji Thomas, Crown (2022). Oil on Canvas, 16 x 20 in. Collection of the artist.

Reji Thomas, Untitled (2020). Oil on Canvas, 25 x 18 in. Collection of the artist.

Reji Thomas, Queen Nola (2008). Oil on Hardboard, 45 x 56 in. Collection of the artist.

About the artist

Rejina Thomas is an acclaimed painter, glass artist, visionary and historian. Her work is held in private and public collections around the world. In 1995, Thomas reproduced the intricate glass work for the restoration of the Texas Capitol building. She is also a community advocate and the founder of Pine Street Station and Graphic Glass Studios. She writes, “I have experienced the joy of being part of the unique artistic landscape of Austin for over four decades. I equate the needs of the producing artist to those of the fish needing water or the bird needing air. The artist needs their environment. The artist’s frontier is defined by their use of space, which is virtually unlimited when paired with curiosity, manifesting the creative spirit. My goal is to have the artwork be a destination not only for observation but also participation.”