Why Making Art in Brooklyn Still Matters

Brooklyn has changed. Anyone who's been here a while knows that.

The studios are harder to find and more expensive when you do. The neighborhoods that used to be where artists lived are now where people who can afford not to think about it live.

But people are still making things here. The density helps. You run into other artists. You see what other people are doing. That contact matters even when it's accidental.

I've been making tea bag paintings in Brooklyn since 2012. The work is connected to this place in ways I can't fully separate out. The colors I'm drawn to, the pace at which I work, the kind of attention I pay to ordinary materials.

All of that got shaped here.

It still matters where things come from. Not as a marketing point. Just as a fact about what shapes the work.

The artwork is made in Brooklyn. That's true and it means something.

Read more about the work.

— Reed Slater
Teascarf Brooklyn