• Corri-Lynn Tetz

  • Sim Smith is delighted to present a new body of work by Canadian artist Corri-Lynn Tetz. Tetz’s practice concentrates on the female figure, with imagery taken from a collated archive of found imagery and personal photographs. Having centred on scenes that capture the vulnerabilities, enactments, and clichés of femininity, this particular body of works focuses on the female experience of shared emotions and the euphoric act of dance, collective experience, release, and the transformative power of surrendering oneself to movement.

  • Corri-Lynn Tetz, Chrysalis, 2026, oil on canvas, 167.6 cm × 152.4 (66 × 60 in)
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  • “The source images are from a friend who was a trained dancer, who came to my studio and danced Kate Bush’s ‘Wuthering Heights’, while I took photos. The rough surface in the background was made through washes of oil, added spray paint. I wanted the surface to be glowing, to feel rough and still expansive.”

  • The themes explored throughout these paintings resonate far beyond the studio, touching on embodied ritual, collective memory, and female connection...

    The themes explored throughout these paintings resonate far beyond the studio, touching on embodied ritual, collective memory, and female connection across time. The act of women gathering to dance has deep historical roots, spanning medieval folklore, mythological traditions, seasonal festivals, and communal rites. From the rebellious spirit of Expressionist dance and the revival of feminine spirituality in Modern Wicca to the viral expressions of solidarity seen today, dance remains a powerful means of collective expression, liberation, and belonging.

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  • “I have always been interested in the intersections between feminism, representation, painting and spirituality, the theatricality of gender and the push and pull between earnestness and humour. Over the last few years, I have connected with Jungian ideas of alchemy, the shadow and individuation. As someone who grew up intensely religious - but not currently - I am drawn to these imagistic concepts as a way of including transformation, visions and a form of spirituality, to help navigate experience.“

  • Recent research published by the University of Leeds in the journal Psychology of Music found that participation in rave and dance culture among women aged 40–65 contributes significantly to both mental and physical wellbeing. The study identified dance as a powerful form of stress relief, emotional release, and self-expression, with many participants describing club environments as spaces of transformation, freedom, and community with many citing the experience of attending EDM events as “spiritual”.

  • Corri-Lynn Tetz, Chrysalis (pink), 2026, oil on canvas, 76.2 × 66 cm (30 × 26 in)

  • “I was having frequent conversations with female friends about a building anger in all of us...a frustration with our own feelings of powerlessness. During that time, friends hosted a big dance party. We danced for hours. In one moment, I remember my friend looked up at me and yelled ‘I’m SO angry!!!’ I yelled back, ‘So am I!’. We hugged and kept dancing.”

  • In many ways, Tetz’s paintings act as a visual barometer of the current cultural moment, asking a timely and universal...

    In many ways, Tetz’s paintings act as a visual barometer of the current cultural moment, asking a timely and universal question:

     

    What does it feel like to be a woman living today?

     

    The woman depicted throughout the series occupies a space of joy and emotional abandon. She gathers, moves, and loses herself. Through luminous colour, expressive gesture, and intimate observation, the artist captures those fleeting moments when individuality dissolves into something larger—a shared experience of freedom, belonging, and release.

     

    These paintings offer an invitation: to escape, even if only briefly and most importantly, to dance.