Josiah

Z.

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Josiah Z. creates compositions with paper that exhibit brutalist qualities, somewhat cold, somewhat gray, all while maintaining a sophisticated sense of balance. Minimal and abstract, with limited color palettes and subtle hints of the source material, these collages feel distinctly modern, almost as though they were made 20 or 30 years ago. We are captivated by this style of collage.

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I’m fascinated with the emotional impact of simple forms and their role in creating meaning. Striking simplification of positive and negative space is a constant striving in my work; I’m always seeking to remove context from the viewer, as a means of creating some sense of scale that can envelop, even if just emotionally. I love the idea that the work I create can also feel imposing at some level, as though looking into memories that grow larger over time.

I almost never start with a finished work in mind—often, pieces begin forming around images in old magazines or photo annuals that have an interesting emotional tone or presence, and from there, I seek to reduce as clippings collide into a final piece. It’s important to me to work instinctively and avoid over-analysis wherever possible, in an effort to retain the feeling of a moment fixed in time.

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One of my main goals is to communicate deep emotion through images that feel somewhat brutal, unadorned, or unemotional upon the first look. Most of my pieces begin from a dark and neutral starting point—I believe I’m drawn to this approach because there is an innate sense of sorrow, longing, and hope that exists in this way of working. There is something that just makes sense to me about straining to find light in darkness.

I often work late in the evening; I find that to be the time that I am most productive and most curious when creating this work. I also intentionally do not reference any visual materials or imagery outside of the source materials that I’m clipping from when I work—no preconceived outcomes, and no outside influence. I enjoy the process of isolating the work, and the effect that it has on the pieces themselves; it keeps me focused on exploration, not worrying about trying to achieve anything else.

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I look for visual materials from the mid-century, such as photo annuals or magazines. There’s just something about the quality of black & white photography and offset printing from that time; it’s an ephemeral and textural quality that really benefits the expressive goals of the work I make. I love digging through materials from that time in general, even if not necessarily for usage in collage work—the design, the typography, the illustrations. It’s amazing to think of the time that went into the design and advertisements, just to now sit in a pile of discount trash in antique stores.

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Josiah Z. is a designer and artist whose practice grew years ago out of a reaction to design thinking and process. His work aims to create forms that feel deeply human and distinctly emotional in their representation, by removing grounding visual context from the viewer and rebuilding.

Often times, his work is driven by structural sensibilities that can feel dominating, using reduced color and form to express emotions seeking to express unmoving and unchanging truths in our lives. In this process of searching, compiling, and reducing, his work also aims to sit outside of a specific moment in time, pressing into thoughts, feelings, and instincts that exist deep down in our humanity.

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