Search Party for Two: Q&A with Tessa Click

Tessa Click is an artist in Portland, Oregon. Originally from Carmel, Indiana, she received a master of fine arts in visual arts from Lesley University in Cambridge, MA, and a bachelor of science in visual art education from Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. She was a resident of Washington, DC between 2012 – 2020.

Search Party for Two was on view at Hillyer on January 3 – February 2, 2020.

Tell us about your exhibition at Hillyer, Search Party for Two. What is the work about? What was the importance of the materials you use?

This body of work seeks understanding of real-world conflicts through absurd characters, props, and settings as proxy. I wanted to create these non-linear narratives that had symbols and places that seemed both familiar and otherworldly at the same time. The work features some playful references, but is undercut with feelings of disequilibrium and uncertainty. Things aren’t always as they appear and sometimes, when we talk about one thing, we are really talking about something else.

While the shapes and forms may seem unrestrained, I actually tried to follow a set of self-imposed restrictions. I tried to break out of the standard rectangular format by beginning with shaped plywood or paper cut in irregular shapes. I wanted all of the pieces to feel teetering or off-balance, so I tried to avoid using level, horizon lines and instead combined multiple vantage points. In addition to playing with atypical forms, I was also influenced by set design, puppetry, and toy paper theaters. When I watch live theater, I love that actors and scenery are unapologetically artificial, and yet an audience suspends their disbelief long enough to enter into an invented world. In creating these two-dimensional surfaces with clear facades and pop-out features, I liked the idea that the flat surfaces were aspiring to become 3-D objects, but couldn’t quite transform into full sculptures. I’m really interested in figuring out how to transform humble materials like paper, plywood, and paint into unexpected forms.

The pieces in your exhibition had clever and humorous titles, such as It started off well and mostly went downhill from there and That Podcasting Conflict Popped Up Out of Nowhere. Tell us about how you come up with these names and what is the inspiration. 

Thank you for noticing the titles and asking more about that, I appreciate it! Sometimes, I wonder if the titles can almost become inside jokes with myself and exclude the viewer, which I am not trying to do. I’ve read about some writers or comedians that take note of real dialogue that they hear in their everyday life as a way to research for their work. When I can, I try to pay attention to interesting or absurd or visual phrases that I come across in my job, in entertainment, or in conversations. Thinking about wordplay and visually charged snippets of dialogue really amuses me. I expect that the titles of these pieces bring up more questions than provide answers, but I hope it encourages the viewer to make sense of narratives with limited viewpoints. Kind of like eavesdropping on an absurd conversation and coming away being amazed at how strange our world is. Sometimes, I come up with a title first and use it as a jumping off point for the content of a piece, and other times, I’ll appoint a title after finishing a piece. I think some people envision artists feeling so inspired and having these therapeutic, relaxing studio sessions, when oftentimes a studio practice includes a lot of labor and problem solving. The humorous titles remind me to keep playing and to keep looking for joy in the process.

What do you hope the viewer takes away from your work?

When I was making this work, I thought about the in-between times of dusk and dawn and how the light makes familiar scenes look and feel different. I want the viewer to be curious about the materials and unfinished narratives, and more importantly, walk away with more questions than answers.

You recently had a lot of big life changes—you moved across the country, got married, and there is a lot going on in the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak. Have you been able to focus at all on making new work? How are you connecting to your new arts community?

That is true, there have been a lot of life changes and transitions recently! Transition and searching for a new place were definitely themes that came up in the Search Party for Two show. We are really grateful that we were able to celebrate our wedding and move to Portland, Oregon before the COVID-19 outbreak. We moved in February and due to COVID-19 restrictions, I haven’t really been able to connect with the local arts community in the way that I originally intended. During the past couple of months, I’ve been focusing on adapting to COVID-19 related demands at my job, so I haven’t had the capacity to tackle a new body of work in my art practice. I recently set up a new studio space in a studio building, so that is a good step in the right direction! I’m trying to be patient with myself and celebrate small wins like setting aside studio time or checking in with artist friends who live far away. If anyone reading this knows a friend in the Portland arts community, feel free to reach out and I’d love to connect!

Thank you so much Hillyer team for taking the time to feature my work and I hope you all stay healthy during a difficult time!