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Loose Threads Dangle in Bright, Bold Gradients in HOTTEA’s Kaleidoscopic Installations

Suspended from gallery ceilings or strung across an open courtyard, innumerable lengths of yarn comprise the chromatic installations by artist Eric Rieger, aka HOTTEA (previously). He arranges the soft textiles in concentric circles or wide gradients that stretch from wall to wall, creating vibrant fields of color that shift in composition depending on the perspective. Most reflect the artist's memories or experiences, and in recent years, he's installed site-specific pieces in cities like Minneapolis, Houston, and Miami. The tri-colored "Strangers" is HOTTEA's largest outdoor work to…

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Vibrant Gradients of Suspended Yarn Reflect HOTTEA’S Personal Memories

Eric Rieger, known by the moniker HOTTEA (previously), is a graffiti writer turned installation artist whose medium of choice is yarn. With it, he creates colorful large-scale works inspired by the moments, experiences, and people in his life. Whether flowing down from the ceiling of a gallery, or interlaced across the top of a pedestrian pathway, Rieger's installations always hold a connection to his past and those who helped shape it. "Color to me represents memories and experiences," Rieger told Colossal, "so in a way it is always in play. It all depends on…

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HOTTEA Blankets the Williamsburg Bridge in a Rainbow of Thread

Last week Minneapolis artist HOTTEA (previously here and here) stopped by NYC and created this excellent rainbow of thread atop the pedestrian tunnel at the Williamsburg Bridge. Titled Rituals the piece consisted of 2,000 strands that took the artist and his assistants some 11 hours to cut and tie. Photos above courtesy…

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Optimist: Artist HOTTEA Uses Miles of Yarn to Create a Field of Color Over a Neglected Tennis Court

I'm thrilled to announce that Colossal has teamed up with our friends over at Threadless to create a new series of artist profiles called Paid in Full. The premise is simple: we find amazing artists and commission a new project of their choosing and film everything for you to see. Our only goal is to promote the creation of new art and to tell the stories of our favorite creatives working today. For this first installment…

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A Technicolor Swimming Pool Painted by HOTTEA on New York’s Roosevelt Island

In a departure from his large-scale color field yarn installations, Minnesota-based artist HOT TEA is back in New York and was given the opportunity to transform a swimming pool on Roosevelt Island with whatever colors he saw fit. Apparently he took the ambitious approach and decided to use them all, spread between 120 gallons of paint. The private commission produced by K&CO and Pliskin Architecture is called Asylum, a title the artist chose "because the act of creating it pushed my mental and physical endurance so far that I wasn’t sure I could complete the task," he shares with Brooklyn…

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A Sun of Thread: 84 Miles of String Suspended at MIA by HOT TEA

Known mostly in for his graffiti-influenced string tags on the streets of Minneapolis, Eric Rieger aka HOT TEA, recently completed this massive installation at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. Titled Letting Go, the piece uses 84 miles of colored string that forms the artist's interpretation of the sun. In a statement about the work Rieger says: At least once in our lives we have all had to let go of something we truly love. Whether it be a pet, personal object or in some cases, loved ones. This piece is my interpretation of the sun. The sun brings life and…

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