Tess Dworman: A Child Retires

“A Child Retires emboldens artifact and artifice to reference the collapse of my own maturation as an artist. The work includes my mom’s old T-shirt (costume), a tote bag (prop), and a soundtrack of the Beach Boys rehearsing ‘Good Vibrations.’ Stand-up comedy, memoir, performance art and Irish step dancing abide by lines of faulty reasoning as the piece accumulates a world of fiction that becomes indistinguishable from reality. Real and imagined figures blend together upending thought patterns and expectations. The spontaneous yet determinant nature of the piece reflects the process of thinking something through, changing your mind and grappling with the consequences.” — Tess Dworman