Blaise Koller

Instagram: @blazables

Blaise Koller is a visual artist born in Seattle, Washington who has lived in Albuquerque, New Mexico since she was six months old. Ever since she can remember she has been making some type of art from whatever materials called to her. Over the last few years, she has started making more sculptural and interactive works that use materials gathered and scavenged from around the city she lives in.

Artist Statement

For Giving Ourselves is an experimental pop up that embodies a defense of giving. Living in a world where money is worshipped as God, how can we receive and share the gifts of the earth respectfully and regeneratively? What can we give of ourselves to create a more compassionate, just world, where all beings are respected and have a place? Can we forgive ourselves for making imperfect decisions while trying to create a world where gifts of kindness are common?

A ceremonial gift giving, For Giving Ourselves is a potential transition imagining what exchanges may look and feel like without the lens of capitalism that commodifies every being and sacred act.

Baskets felted and woven from reused and discarded scraps, and dyed with plant materials, will be given. Fallen fruit and wild weeds collected within a few blocks of my home have filled these baskets with jams, syrups, seeds, and a question as to what will happen with their life force next. The abundance of the last eight months has been collected to show the beauty and generosity of the everyday and the small who give themselves within this city scape. If we take the time to slow down, we can see them and learn to appreciate their inherent worth. For the generosity of their lives and gifts to us, reciprocity and care is asked in return.

These gifts are given from me and my mother and my aunt and the soil and the sky and the rain and the fruits and the seeds — and so many more– to you. I only ask that you share the contents of the basket mindfully with your circle of care, and scatter the seeds to continue the cycles of life and nourishment contained within. These cycles don’t end tomorrow. Let us not give up on caring for what is here and alive today.