by Teresa Bramlette Reeves
Lewis Carroll’s Alice follows a rabbit down a hole and into an inverted world inhabited by characters who challenge her sense of who she is and what she knows. Through various means, she changes size on a dozen occasions. Her recitation of lessons learned in her previous world—multiplication tables, poems, and other information—is similarly altered. What was once sensible is rendered nonsensical. What was once normal is no longer. But she eventually begins to find a new self and to form a more fixed identity, mirroring the process of adaptation to challenges in the midst of upheaval.
My project envisions Alice’s journey as a way to explore a different kind of transition—the move into one’s final decades. The work relates a loose narrative of a woman who enters into this new world. After some exploration, she begins to wonder if escape is an option. In pondering the possibilities, she builds models and creates tools that are intended to help her realize her plans. But she can’t really use a ladder made of cloth, or a painting of braided hair. The dark hole is flat, the circles never-ending. The rain isn’t real, nor are the snowflakes. What once was stable is now weak. What was once a given, is now a guess.
As Alice notes on her own adventure, “How puzzling all these changes are!”
This presentation brings together diverse media and approaches that, while recently produced, reflect a lifetime of varied pursuits in art-making. Inconsistency is something I’ve decided to embrace because conceptually and practically, it fits.
“Who am I then? Tell me that first, and then, if I like being that person, I’ll come up—if not, I’ll stay down here till I’m somebody else.” I like Alice’s attitude.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Teresa Bramlette Reeves was born in Athens, Georgia and received a BFA in drawing and painting from the University of Georgia, an MFA from Virginia Commonwealth University, and a PhD in art history from the University of Georgia.
Prior to teaching at Georgia State University (2001-11), she worked as the Curatorial Assistant at the following New York City institutions: The New Museum of Contemporary Art, the Guggenheim Museum, and Artists Space. She was formerly the Assistant to the Director of The New York Kunsthalle, the Gallery Director and Curator for the Atlanta Contemporary Art Center, and the Director of Curatorial Affairs at the Zuckerman Museum of Art. Bramlette Reeves completed a Fulbright US Scholar residency in 2016/17, working with the Irish Museum of Modern Art in Dublin. As a part of the curatorial collective, Selvage, she helped organize A Most Favorable Soilfor the Butler Gallery in Kilkenny, Ireland (November 2019-February 2020) and is currently working on Flow, a multi-venue exhibition, parade, and pool party event in Tuscaloosa in May 2022.
Teresa Bramlette Reeves is currently represented by Whitespace Gallery, Atlanta, GA. She was formerly represented by Althea Viafora Gallery and Information Gallery in NYC, and ID Galerie in Düsseldorf, Germany. In addition to solo shows at these commercial venues, Bramlette Reeves has also presented solo projects at the Jersey City Museum, P.S. 1 Museum, and White Columns as well as being included in numerous group shows in Atlanta, New Orleans, NYC, Cologne, and Paris. She was awarded a Pollock-Krasner Grant, and Fellowship Residencies at the MacDowell Colony, Cite International des Arts (Paris), The Hambidge Center, and the P.S. 1 National Studio Program.