My blogs

Conversations on Contemporary Art

Zoë Blatt

About me

Location	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Introduction	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.

Location

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Introduction

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.