Debbi Kenote and Til Will interview painter Tirtzah Bassel whose work was recently on view with Slag Gallery at the Volta Art Fair, New York.

Bassel comments: “… a lot of times the images in my paintings start from just an everyday situation that you would kind of see anywhere, right, at this point. You’re always seeing people on their phone and taking pictures on their phone. And then, you know, just having this moment of like, ok let’s actually look at this, there’s something strange here, just that strangeness is the starting point. And then, as you work, the painting kind of becomes its own thing, other things might emerge or other people might see other things in the image. I’m very interested in this reality that we have where we are often looking at what’s in front of us through a screen. We’re kind of delaying the moment of experiencing it to the moment where we’ll look at the picture or share the picture. What does it do to our relationship to the person who is physically next to us, or our relationship to that space? So those are some of the thoughts that are driving the image. “