Bringing The Outside In Opening Reception

Bringing the Outside In explores how our homes become vessels for cultural memory and identity. Dahlia Dreszer constructs elaborate still-lifes within domestic spaces, combining rescued flowers, printed works from her earlier project Invisible Cities, artifacts from her travels, and inherited textiles that blur the boundaries between interior and exterior worlds. The work reflects Dreszer’s Latin American heritage and the immigrant experience of creating home between cultures. Dahlias and roses become symbols of resilience and growth, carrying memories of generational connections while speaking to cycles of preservation and renewal. Through her practice of rescuing and preserving flowers – suspended and dried to extend their temporal existence – Dreszer examines the delicate balance between nature and artifice in our contemporary world. In collaboration with artificial intelligence, she further explores this dialogue between preservation and evolution, working with AI systems to interpret and extend these cultural expressions. This technological collaboration mirrors the immigrant experience of adaptation, where meaning is both preserved and transformed through new forms of understanding.

Bringing the Outside In introduces Dreszer’s emerging documentation of her homeland’s Kuna Yala women, bringing awareness to these local artisans whose traditional mola textiles appear throughout the works. Returning to her Panamanian roots, Dreszer creates a platform for these vital yet often overlooked cultural traditions, highlighting the hands who make the craft. The exploration of heritage extends to Dreszer’s own multicultural identity, as Jewish artifacts and family heirlooms interweave throughout the works, suggesting that “home” is not a fixed place but a constant dialogue between memory, identity, and the spaces we inhabit.

Live plant installation by Tournage.
https://dahliadreszer.com/