KALTBLUT-HONK! 03 The Divas

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I usually take quite a bit of time thinking
about concept before it ever materializes
on paper or canvas... sometimes years- but
I always use photographic imagery for my
work... holding a pose and drawing or painting
is virtually impossible.
When i saw the first time one of your paintings,
( it was a shoe ) it reminded me of
Albrecht Dürer. Do you have an icon? Who
influenced you?
Many, many icons and influences... and yes
Durer for sure, also... Caravaggio, Ingres,
Holbein, Gericault, David, Goya, Breugel,
Velasquez, Manet, Ribera... many contemporary
influences as well... Damien Hirst,
Cindy Sherman, Sophie Calle, Alison Norlen,
Aurel Schmidt, Odd Nerdrum, AA Bronson/
General Idea, John Currin, Lucien
Freud, Evan Penny, Attila Richard Lukacs...
among others. You could say though that my
muse is art history... during the summer of
2009 as the result of an artist-project grant,
I travelled to Paris to study the neoclassical
paintings within the grand hall of the Louvre,
which resulted in the “Beautiful Losers
Project”, the creation of an 18 foot oil painting
that saw my body portrayed echoing the
gestural elements from my research. I will
often times re-sutuate famous literary allegories
within my work as well.
You have done exhibitions all over the world.
How did your career start?
Z: It just kind of came about serendipidously,
I caught the eye of French gallerist
Jean Roch Dard who saw my work in a
publication, I believe, and offered me a solo
show in Paris. This initial exhibition led to a
string of projects in both private and public
spaces in NYC and throughout the US
in Miami, Cincinnati and Raleigh NC. As
well, among these various projects, in 2009
I was one of the recipients of MFA Now,
an international painting competition for
recent MFA graduates. I was also invited to
participate in an exhibition in Paris, titled
“When I Grow Up” which paired emerging
artists with established ones in an effort to
create a dialogue between the two... to my utter
suprise, I was paired with one of my favorite
contemporary artists Sophie Calle. I have also
exhibited in Berlin, Paris, Barcelona and here
Emperor’s New Clothes (from Disappearances series)
Pastel on paper, 50 x 110 inches, 2011