In her first solo show with Zina Gallery, A Single Root Can Hold the Earth Together, Thea Lazăr recreates an aesthetic of encyclopedic plant collections, drawing much of the exhibition’s thematic language from Joseph Arnold’s work The Kunstkammer of the Dimpfels, a Family of Ironmongers and Traders from Regensburg (1668), which portrays a cabinet of curiosities— the early ancestor of the modern museum, a space where both animate and inanimate elements are subjectively displayed, indexed, and preserved.
For Thea, a cabinet of curiosities is more than just a collection of oddities; it’s an invitation to explore shared emotion through a particular selection of objects that are telling stories about the world for a while. The stories can create a ‘we’, a collective charade, a loose assembly characterized by shared belonging, suffering, and potential. This encounter acknowledges the diverse experiences of hardship that the climate crisis brings, and can foster connections to our world despite the acquired baggage of threat and horror. As theorist Karen Barad explains the non-hierarchical nature of entanglement, entities maintain their connections even when dispersed, implying that our actions hold real meaning due to a predetermined capacity resulted from unseen connections.
Thea Lazăr (b. 1993, Târgu Mureș) lives and works in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Her artistic practice spans a wide range of mediums, including textile and embroidery, multimedia installations, video, and 3D animation. With a focus on storytelling, her work intertwines traditional craftsmanship and contemporary technology, creating a dynamic dialogue that reflects both personal and universal narratives. Through the juxtaposition of nature and technology, she highlights the tension between the organic and the manufactured, prompting contemplation of their coexistence. Nature, particularly local and endemic plants, holds a significant place in Lazăr’s artistic inspiration.
Through the incorporation of botanical elements, she constructs a symbolic language that transcends geographical boundaries. By exploring the delicate relationship between human existence and the natural world, her art aims to evoke a sense of wonder and appreciation for the beauty and fragility of our environment. In addition to her botanical motifs, she often turns her attention to cars and car parts, examining them through a nostalgic lens. By delving into this theme, she prompts viewers to reflect on the historical and cultural significance of automobiles, emphasizing their symbolic role in notions of mobility, progress, and personal freedom.
