From the Hot Shop to SAM: An Interview with Visiting Artist Tariqa Waters

Tariqa Waters in the Museum of Glass Hot Shop. Photo by Kaelau Aoae.

Museum of Glass was thrilled to welcome Visiting Artist Tariqa Waters to the Hot Shop in March 2025. Her residency proposal was selected from a competitive pool of applicants and was designed to complete work for her solo exhibition Tariqa Waters: Venus is Missing, currently on view at Seattle Art Museum (SAM). We caught up with Waters to discuss the inspiration behind her exhibition and how her time in the Museum Hot Shop supported her vision.

Your new exhibition Tariqa Waters: Venus is Missing is now open at Seattle Art Museum. What do you hope audiences take away from this show? What impact do you hope it has?

Venus is Missing is more than just a story—it’s a journey I invite you to take with me, Agent Tariqa Waters. Together, we’re diving into a mission that’s all about exploring those tricky, uncharted territories of vulnerability. Growing up in the 80s, a time often called the Era of Decadence, I found solace in the worlds of science fiction books and movies. They offered an escape—a glimpse into lives far removed from my own. Just like the iconic time-traveling DeLorean from Back to the Future, stepping into this exhibition takes you on a ride through the past and into the realms of the impossible, where some things will always stay just out of reach.

You held a residency at Museum of Glass in March. What was the goal of this residency and how did it fit into your vision for the exhibition?

Well, Bill and Ted were hogging the phone booth and Marty and Doc were like, “No way!” when I asked to borrow their DeLorean. So, what’s a creative genius to do? I decided to channel my inner astronaut and whip up a rocket ship. And not just any rocket ship—a fly pink one! The only catch? It didn’t have a windshield. During my residency, I pitched this wild idea involving a cluster of bubbles that would serve as the windshield. Since I couldn’t exactly pop the rocket ship into the Hot Shop (imagine the chaos!), this bubbly concept let us go wild and create an organic surface that could dance and float, breaking free from the boring old shapes. Who needs conventional when you can have a pink bubble rocket?

The Rocketship in *Venus is Missing*. Photo by Katie Buckingham.

Glass bubbles made in the Museum Hot Shop for the Rocketship windshield.

What did you learn from your experience working with the Hot Shop Team as someone who does not primarily work in glass? Did the residency and their partnership make you think differently about your approach to the work?

As a multidisciplinary artist, I see every new project as a fun adventure waiting to happen. I’ve got a good handle on what I can and can’t do with glass. But when I get the chance to team up with the amazing, legendary artists at Museum of Glass, it’s like joining forces with fellow dreamers. If there’s even a hint that an idea might work, we’re all in for a try! The whole process of figuring things out together is super rewarding. Working with the Hot Shop Team reminded me why I started this wacky ride as an artist over twenty years ago!

Has Venus is Missing sparked any unexpected conversations or reactions so far? Has anything surprised you about the response?

I haven’t had any unexpected conversations just yet. What warms my heart are the smiles on people’s faces as soon as they walk under the teleporter, while their eyes grow big as they enter the installation.

During your Museum of Glass Hot Shop visit, you mentioned how, as kids, we retreat into our imagination, and that you believe adults need that place as well. What inspired this belief, and how do you incorporate the themes of imagination and memory into your work? How do you balance that playfulness with cultural commentary?

As someone who grew up during the age of landlines and turn-knob TVs, my imagination was everything. We might be the last generation to know what boredom actually feels like. Fast forward to today, the era of excess, distraction, and not one flying car or proper Mattel hoverboard to show for it! I joke, but we are in some dark days. The art of great storytelling has always been a high bar I’ve striven to achieve in my work. I have explored multiple genres in the arts as a way of expanding narratives from my own personal experiences, particularly growing up in the Confederate South. One of the first things you learn both as a painter and photographer is the relationship between shadow and light. This dynamic not only shapes our world but also mirrors the complexities of existence. In thinking about my children’s future, I want to make sure that my thoughts are not stuck in a state of incessant worry, but are an override of imaginative playfulness. I want to shine a light for future generations, showing them that optimism and the exploration of better days ahead are indeed attainable.

Moving forward, what stories and themes do you hope to explore in your work?

You’ll have to stay tuned. But I can assure you, it will be outta this world!

More about Tariqa Waters

One of Seattle Magazine's most influential artists, born in Richmond, Virginia, Tariqa Waters' innovative practice masterfully commands space through her use of mixed-media tableaus, paintings, photographs, film, glass, and whimsical immersive installations. Her technicolor characterizations of multigenerational commercial references reclaim a sincere aesthetic steeped in effortless regality and proudly celebrated traditions.

Over the years, the art of storytelling has served as a resourceful tool within the evolution of her work. When she sits and thinks about her journey as a Black woman and mother in an inequitable art market, she often finds herself developing innovative ways to lampoon and defy generalizations that doubt her capabilities. Whether sustaining a decade-long, renowned, conceptual brick-and-mortar community-based art installation called Martyr Sauce; shapeshifting that brick-and-mortar into a television show called Thank You, MS PAM on The Seattle Channel, celebrating artists, creatives, and small businesses around the PNW; or evolving her preferred medium from oil painting to motorized large-scale immersive fabrications and blown glass, she has never shied away from taking risks. Her world drips with colorful irreverence and cheeky humor, flipping gender scripts, remixing Black cultural touchpoints, and reflecting the contradictions of daily life.