Disclaimer

Artist Statement on the Tessera main collection.
Version 1.1
Tessera Gallery

The Tessera main collection is an artistic project and collaborative community endeavor, comprising unique digital mosaics that celebrate the magic of childhood imagination. Created over the span of multiple years, the project captures the universal joy of dress-up play through the lens of a child’s dreams, aspirations, and wonder. Each piece is a digital mosaic, born from the artist’s vision and enriched by the shared nostalgia of the Tessera community on X and Discord. Reflecting themes of identity, storytelling, and memory, the collection invites viewers to reconnect with the boundless possibilities of dreaming and serves as a heartfelt tribute to the transformative power of art and play.

All works in the Tessera main collection are original artworks depicting children, whether as themselves or engaging in imaginative dress-up. Each piece is a one-off portrait of a child in a unique costume or scenario, imagining themselves as a hero, peer, or figure from the world around them.

The collection evolves organically, shaped through ongoing dialogue with the Tessera community. Many artworks are inspired by shared ideas, memories, and prompts, often referencing beloved childhood characters and themes. The resulting body of work reflects not only the artist’s creative direction but also a collective journey of imagination and nostalgia.

A frequent sentiment from the Tessera community is their excitement to see familiar characters interpreted through the unique Tessera mosaic technique, reflecting a deep appreciation for artistic reinterpretation. These artworks are not recreations but portraits filtered through memory, play, and the tactile richness of the mosaic medium.

Each digital piece is meticulously constructed from individual tiles cut from vintage children’s book covers, a material also used in the artist’s physical mosaics. Every tile in the digital works is a 1:1 digitized version of a real-life tile previously incorporated in a handcrafted mosaic that exists somewhere in the world. This use of vintage print media evokes the foundations of early storytelling, grounding each work in a tangible sense of childhood history.

Each portrait within the collection follows a consistent foundational structure with the same setup of body, mouth, nose, and eyes, acting as “traits” reused across the series as part of a generative collection. On this base layout, consistently repeated, each unique character is formed, with proportions and positioning in the composition carefully dictated by this underlying structure.

While some pieces may evoke the spirit or visual language of widely recognized figures, each work sits within the broader collection as a reimagining through the lens of childhood role-play, a child dreaming themselves into a character as interpreted through the artist’s original composition, design, and technique. These are not reproductions or imitations but expressive reinterpretations that explore identity, fantasy, and storytelling, with each unique piece inextricably linked to the full set of portraits. It is as if a photo booth had been placed at a crowded dress-up party, capturing the collective spirit of the evening.

None of the artworks are affiliated with, endorsed by, or representative of any official brand, franchise, or individual. No copyrighted material has been directly reused or reproduced as a base for the mosaic layout. Instead, the works transform visual references into new artistic expression, offering commentary on the role of storytelling, imagination, and play in early identity formation.

Limited fine art prints may be offered as physical extensions of the digital originals. These small-edition prints are created and sold directly by the artist. The Tessera project exists as an independent celebration of creativity and the universal joy of becoming, imagining, and playing, all captured through the lens of a childhood dress-up party, shaped by shared memory and community imagination.

Prepared by:
Vonkel
Tessera Gallery