“Toxic Plush” reimagines the teddy bear as something both comforting and unsettling. Cloaked in pink reptilian skin, the familiar softness of childhood meets an unexpected sense of danger, reflecting how comfort can sometimes carry hidden toxicity.
As part of Maïté Côté’s Altered Familiar series, the work explores the tension between sweetness and menace, innocence and complexity. The result is disarmingly gentle yet quietly provocative, inviting viewers to reflect on the delicate boundary between affection and unease.
As the first piece in the Altered Familiar series, Wild Comfort sets the tone for a body of work that reimagines the classic teddy bear through hybrid animal forms. Covered in leopard fur, this bear blends comfort with alertness, softness with instinct.
Wild Comfort reflects the tension at the heart of the series, illustrating where the familiar meets the instinctual. In this piece, Maïté explores the innate dichotomy that exists in our collective experience, revealing something both naturally unexpected and deeply recognizable.
As the second piece in the Altered Familiar series, ‘Tethered to the Sky‘ reflects the space between movement and memory, the feeling of reaching for something more, while still being held by what came before.
It’s about that in-between place: no longer where you were, not yet where you’re going. 🪽
