Zoë Blatt

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Cymbidium Dream, Detail

Posted by Zoë Blatt at 3:10 PM

Zoë Blatt: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; In my paintings and soft sculpture installations, I construct fantastical spaces intended for children’s learning, discovery, storytelling, and play. I use fabric, knitted yarn, paint, and natural materials to construct brightly colored environments influenced by shapes and patterns in nature. The viewer can peek through holes to uncover a world of fluorescent floral entanglements, or push aside green and blue knitted and beaded vines to reveal glowing white branches. Through variety in texture, scale, and color, I invite children to touch the work and discover what is hidden. I set limits on what can be fully seen or touched while offering glimpses of many areas of the environment, striving to increase a sense of curiosity and wonder. By enveloping the viewer in forms, colors, and craft processes that are traditionally coded female and commonly dismissed as ‘pretty’ and frivolous, I assert their power, reclaiming stereotypes regarding femininity and motherhood. Conceiving the work as a means to foster child development emphasizes that nurturing children is my personal and deliberate choice.

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