Zaria Forman

“Greenland #63” © Zaria Forman

Name: Zaria Forman

URL: http://www.zariaforman.com/

Bio: What an artist to start the New Year with!
Zaria Forman grew up in Piermont, New York, half an hour north of New York City. She went to Green Meadow Waldorf school from 6th grade through high school which she describes as a very small school with an alternative approach to education, in which art is greatly infused.

She received her Bachelor of Science in Studio Arts in 2005, at Skidmore College, Saratoga.  Since then her work has received a lot of attention in the art world with many articles and critiques in the press; and solo and group shows nation-wide; and a presence in museum and private collections. She has had solo exhibitions the Case Gallery, Saratoga Springs in 2005; Bunburry’s Art Gallery, Piermont, NY and the Allen Sheppard Gallery, NY in 2006; and her 2008 exhibitions Arctic Light: Recent Drawings, in the Allen Sheppard Gallery, NY.

She is currently represented by DFN Gallery in New York, the David Floria Gallery in Aspen, Colorado and the Winston Wachter Gallery in Seattle, Washington State.

Forman states that the inspiration for her drawings began in early childhood when she traveled with her family throughout some of the world's most remote landscapes, which were the subject of her mother's fine art photography.

Her mother, Rena Bass Forman, dedicated her life to photographing the most remote regions of the earth. The cold and isolated landscape of the Arctic consumed her interest for over ten years. Her work from her Arctic trips have been compared to 19th century photographers John L. Dunmore and George Critcherson who were on American painter William Bradford’s 1869 expedition. In August 2012 Zaria Forman led Chasing the Light, an art expedition sailing up the northwest coast of Greenland, retracing Bradford’s 1869 journey and artistically documenting the rapidly changing arctic landscape.

In addition to exhibitions, recent projects of Forman’s include a series of set design drawings for the ballet Giselle, which premiered in October 2012 at the Grand Theatre of Geneva, Switzerland (see the Giselle page) Ten of her drawings were also used in the set design for House of Cards, a Netflix TV series directed by David Fincher and starring Kevin Spacey. 

Continuing to address climate change in her work, Forman spent September 2013 in the Maldives, the lowest-lying country in the world, and almost certainly the most vulnerable to rising sea levels. 

Medium: Pastel

Subjects: Landscape; seascape.

“With my Greenland and Svalbard series, I attempt to capture the ephemeral properties of arctic light. I am interested in the element of water and how it absorbs and reflects the light in its various forms. The forms that we easily recognize are ice, water, cloud, and fog; these are essential elements that inspire my compositions. I am also interested in the transition between these states and enjoy the challenge of translating such sublime experiences into my work. The different forms of illuminated water give rise to the dreamy, atmospheric scenes that I hope will transport the viewer to this remote region of the earth... Perhaps if people can experience these sublime landscapes, they will be inspired to protect and preserve them.”

Style: Realistic. “When I travel, I take thousands of photographs and make small sketches. Once I am back in the studio, I draw from my memory of the experience, as well as the photographs to create large scale compositions. I add layers of color onto the paper, smudging everything with my fingers and hand.”

Navigation: This website is easy to navigate. Main menu remains available on top of page.

Gallery: Drawings: The Maldives; Greenland 2012; Giselle; Nosara; Svalbard; Israel; Thompson Lake; Greenland 2006; Storms.

Image View: Images open in a viewer; you may scroll through. Download is not possible. Information on the images is provided -  and the paintings are impressively large. Greenland #63 is 50 x 75 ins (127 x 90 cm)

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