Téa Blatt

“In this installation, Téa Blatt creates a subconscious room populated with objects created and repurposed during or over the course of her time in college. The pieces explore ideas of solitude and self-reflection through the use of objects and ideas collected from the spaces she inhabits. Through her work, Téa examines the questions: Why do we hold onto the objects that we do, and what about collecting them makes us feel secure?

Téa’s process is a tactile, meditative exploration of material. She constructs planes and figures, embedding found objects within clay, pasting them to canvas, and stitching them onto tulle. These mixed-media works become a tapestry of her collections, imbued with the labor of both her hands and self-examination.

This installation is composed of three elements:

Dream Curtain, which creates the boundaries of the installation, leading the viewer into an intimate world created by the artist. Both handmade beads and found objects decorate otherworldly shrouds, which pull the viewer from the outside world into a constructed impression of Téa’s mind.

Filling the space on pedestals and shelves, Téa’s untitled figurines create a new landscape of her collections embedded in clay alongside vague objects that hint at functionality within the world she has created. Their forms reference the indefinable nature of dreams and celestial bodies, while highlighting the role of the artist’s hand in her playful process.

Meanwhile, Dream Portrait hangs on the only solid wall for the viewer to look up at as they enter the space. The piece is a mixed-media collage on canvas that began in 2016, building up layers of imagery over time while allowing the artist to collaborate with her past self. The piece documents a process of reworking and reexamining, archiving transformations and growth.”