sonié joi
thompson-ruffin
Invisible
Statement about the work in The Mother and… Project
Inspired by the word of Trevor Noah, “If you really want to know about America, talk to a Black woman - they know what shit is.”
This work bears witness to the enduring reality of African American womanhood. I do not speak for all African American women or mothers; my work is a personal testimony and exploration of identity, ancestry, and resilience.
As an African American woman, a mother, an artist, a wife, and a grandmother, I create in a world that has long sought to silence and regulate my presence - yet I persist. Invisible asserts that my body, my voice, my labor, and my vision cannot be ignored or diminished.
Everytime we must seek permission to wear our hair in braids, cornrows, or an afro, the legacy of control, erasure, and invisibility persists. I am the great-great-granddaughter of African slave women, many of whom never set foot on this land, thrown overboard for being human. I carry their legacy, their courage, their pain, and their creativity within me.
“I exist. I create. I endure. I am”.
Peace in Grace
Sonié Joi Thompson-Ruffin 2025 ©
No portion of the artwork or writing may be reproduced, copied, or used in any form without first contacting the artist for permission.
ARTIST Statement
“Art holds within it the ability to give testimony and document our very human existence”
ARTIST BIO
Sonié Joi Thompson-Ruffin is an acclaimed fiber artist, author, designer, curator, abstract painter and community organizer whose work explores themes of human rights through vibrant, symbolically rich textiles.
Her artwork has been exhibited nationally and internationally at prestigious venues including the Smithsonian’s Renwick Gallery, the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Spiva Center for the Arts, the Spencer Museum of Art, the David C. Driskell Center, Spelman College Museum, the New England Quilt Museum, and the American Craft Museum.
Her work is held in the permanent collections of the Nelson-Atkins Museum, 21c Hotel museum Spencer Museum, Truman Medical Center, McDaniel-Hazley, Gautreaux Collection, Bell Corporation, Sprint Collection, and numerous corporate and personal collections across the United States, Europe, and Africa.
She has conducted workshops at Crystal Bridges, the Smithsonian’s Renwick Gallery (High Fiber program and D.C. Family Weekend), the Nelson-Atkins Museum, MAAFA Quilters, Storytellers in Cloth, International Quilt Market, and the Mott Museum. Her public art is permanently installed and prominently featured on the Leon Jordan Police Campus, the Pembroke Hill School Hall Foundation, Truman Medical Centers, and the Brookside Waldo Building.
She served eight years as Curator-in-Residence for the American Jazz Museum’s Changing Gallery in Kansas City's historic jazz district, curating exhibitions that celebrated jazz through visual, literary, and performance art on a local, national, and international scale.
Her accolades include recognition as a Charlotte Street Visual Arts Fellow, Art Omi Fellow, Persimmon Creek Arts Fellow, Storyteller’s Inc. Fellow, Kansas Governor’s Choice Artist, Kansas Master Artist, and 2017 Alvin Ailey artist for Race, Place, and Diversity. She is a two-time finalist for the National Museum of Women in the Arts Women to Watch honor, a recipient of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. Arts & Letters Woman of Courage Award, a two-time USA Fellowship nominee (2022–23), and an Alliance of Artists Communities Scholarship recipient.
A founding member of African American Artists Collective KC, Sonié serves as Vice Chair of the Museum of Kansas City Foundation Board and sits on the board of the Leedy Foundation. She is the author of Soulful Art of African American Quilts and Opening Day: Celebrating the Life and Times of Negro Leagues Baseball. Her fabric collections Drums of Afrika and My African Village have been featured in McCall's, Better Homes and Gardens Quilting, and Quilter's Quarters magazines.
