about the project

I use objects from my home, such as dishes and decorations passed down from my family, with other household items, to compose still life scenes. I then photograph  and digitally composite them. The composites are set in a square format and made into prints, or further composited and animated into digital video format. 

As I’ve come into parenthood and middle age (almost simultaneously), I have found myself seeking family histories that have been lost with the passing of time and family members. Through the staging of these objects, I seek to build a relationship between past and present. I emphasize the fragmentation of personal histories that exist as physical and increasingly digital artifacts by photographing, juxtaposing, manipulating, printing, cutting and scanning, and animating against a background of constructed interior spaces.

about the artist

My name is Tess Cortés and I'm a visual artist and educator living in Dayton, Ohio. I received an MFA in Electronic Art from the University of Cincinnati and a BFA in Painting from Wright State University. My work has been screened nationally and abroad including at the Riffe Gallery in Columbus, C-Link Gallery in Cincinnati, Bedford Gallery in California, and Fisura Festival in México. In 2019, I received an Artist Opportunity Grant from the Montgomery County Arts and Cultural District. I served as a grant panelist for the Ohio Arts Council and gallery coordinator for Wright State University’s Robert & Elaine Stein Galleries. I am currently an instructor of motion design at The Modern College of Design in Dayton.  

My work is grounded in the tradition of early video artists who experimented with the tools of mass media production––video cameras, sound recording, and editing equipment––to create non-narrative and experimental imagery and sound.

I can be reached at tess (at) nettabits.net.