Visit with Arielle Zamora

Arielle Zamora invites us inside the studio to take a look at their unique process ahead of Abscissa, their two-person exhibition at Uprise Art.

Arielle’s works are created by smoothing gypsum-based joint compound and oil paint over wooden panels. After meticulously preparing the substrate, Arielle carves into the surface with an etching tool, creating recessed channels that reveal the layers below. The surface is then flooded with cold wax medium, imbuing the pigment with a matte luster.

Each painting consists of etched lines, and the swift pull of the etching tool against the metal straight edge and into the joint compound surface sounds much like waves lapping the shore and with a similar syncopated rhythm. They offer an opportunity to change the channel on a very overworking brain and to get lost in the repetitive waves of process and the soothing space of color theory.

Arielle Zamora

Working with the x and y axes, Arielle deftly carves patterns and forms that reach near-symmetry, giving the impression that each curve could be neatly folded into one another or repeated with geometric harmony. In Arielle’s paintings, it is the subtle dissonance created by the waver in each line, the undulation of each channel, and the texture of the paint application that reveals the artist’s hand and adds specificity and idiosyncrasy to the experience of the work.

I believe people feel safer and can relate, physically and mentally, to visually symmetrical things--things that can be counted or folded nicely like a piece of paper. We ourselves are symmetrical, and if we can stand in front of something like a piece of art and feel the similarities between ourselves and what’s in front of us, then we feel held in a way that feels complete.

Arielle Zamora