Sara M. Zak: An Overwhelming Familiarity

CASTELLANI ART MUSEUM OF NIAGARA UNIVERSITY  USA | Niagara
September 25, 2016- January 11, 2017
Sara M. Zak’s large-scale paintings are composed of complex multi-layered narratives. Built primarily around recurrent imagery of a blissful young girl, a swing, suspension apparatus, the American flag and architectural interiors; her work combines lush color and loose brushwork.
Presented in shifting perspectives, repetition of these elements communicates the tediousness of too familiar everyday life.  Also entwined in the works is Zak’s consideration of perpetual “Inter-generational self-replacement”—daughter becomes mother…becomes grandmother in perpetuity.
Zak’s canvases function as a heightened awareness of half-remembered dreams or uninvited premonitions. Devoid of any sentimentality (a term the artist despises), below the surface of her paintings lies a purposeful sense of unease. Discomfort and agitation at the thought and fear of unforeseen life-changing catastrophes clouds Zak’s psyche while painting.
With these understandings, her heightened awareness of the fragility of life becomes evident.  Zak, expertly handling her medium, constructs ingenious complexities that are physically flat but are also multi-dimensional.
Contact details
5795 Lewiston Road, Niagara University , Niagara, NY, USA 14109


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