Jun 01, 2015 8 Questions with: Zio Ziegler
When I saw Zio Ziegler’s mural in a Los Angeles parking lot, I was amazed. He painted a black and white mural of a tiger and it was huge! I couldn’t believe someone can paint that big of a mural in such a short amount of time. When it comes to huge murals, Zio can execute it very well. He has artwork all over the world, from Facebook headquarters to London; his style of work is easily recognizable. When he’s not painting outside, he will be painting in his mountainside studio, just outside of San Francisco. Seems like sleep is not an option when it comes to producing art. Anything in between, will most likely be eating burritos or riding his bike outdoors. Here is an 8-question interview to get to know one of my favorite artists a little better.
How would you describe your work?
I would describe my work as supremely eclectic, interested in the origin of the mark making rather than the outcome, and prismatic in process and result. I am interested in the A priori hand gestures, the way the difference of sight and hand influence the assimilation to the “realistic” which I seek to render. I try to envision the hand as a sculpting tool rather than a tool, which adds upon a surface, something, which reduces the subject the eye or mind, holds into a visceral series of strokes that more expressively exposes the human condition. Psychological painting perhaps, and then the visual outcome, which in order to be interpreted needs to preserve a knowledge of classical painting (light, depth and dimension) can come out in myriad ways. But it is one style that feeds the next, I could do a series of black and white works, and then move to raw and gestural paintings, and be so far over the edge that I have to move back to realism and tight controlled work, and that may be too confined so I move to abstraction, and then finally there is a work that summarizes the entire arc- which embodies all attempts in one, and those are usually my favorite and the most unexpected.
What are you currently working on?
I am currently working on a book, some paintings for group shows and solo shows, and a project for the United Nations Foundation, and a series of public inhabitable sculptures . I also work at a company called Station A, which builds microgrids as their creative director, and then on occasion I will do some clothing collaborations, of which I am currently designing a few.
Where do you find inspiration?
I find inspiration primarily in literature. I listen to audiobooks while painting, and in many ways it forms a context and motivation for my studio work. It can be anything for art theory to Roman history, but honestly the more complex the better as It allows me to move my mind from my painting and enter an ethereal space which is very akin to the Dadaist automatic processes, and just mirrors impulse and desire as the justification for work itself. Visually, I find inspiration from a lot of primitive and outsider art. From hand painted signs to early cave paintings- my interest is art, which was not aware of its own title during its creation-, or in other words art from necessity, or as a means to grander communication. I am as interested in the visual language of comics and cultural symbols as I used to be, and now find inspiration to be within art objects which spoke to those not trained in art, which motivated culture towards a paradigm shift- or art which answered the questions of the infinite. Inspiration can also be found within nature, and the abandon of ego in the wild. I ride my mountain bike every day when I am in the studio, and it strips down all of the worry and relativity one can find in todays world and reduces you a smaller piece of a larger spectrum. You’re reminded of how important it is to be adaptive to the unknown path ahead, how it’s not the stone or tree a quarter mile down the road, but the one right in front of you. It is a phenomenal exercise in humility and mindfulness- and when I re-enter the studio later in the day, I am able to view and create from a much more grounded place.
What does a typical day look like for you?
I wake up early, I drink coffee and eat toast with almond butter or a breakfast burrito, I procrastinate emailing people, I paint, then I email, I begin new projects and abandon others, struggle with surfaces and finish paintings. Then comes lunch, which means burritos. And back to the studio, where I work all afternoon on paintings, and then leave around 5:30 for a bike ride. I ride for 2 or 3 hours, and then grab food and come back to the studio and work until my eyes can no longer stay open. When I travel it is pretty much the same, except add in flights and turn the canvas into a wall, and the Mexican food into whatever is the local cuisine. I don’t believe in taking a day off, or a day away from work as I think you may loose the momentum or train of thought which occupied my hand before. So even when I cannot paint, I still try- and that is the hardest but often the most rewarding. As you can tell, I am a bit obsessed, but I would not have it any other way.
What are you reading or listening to at the moment?
I just finished Underworld by Don DeLillo-, which was magnificent. I also have been listening to curatorial lectures by Robert Storr, Larry Rinder and Okwui Enwezor. I am a huge fan of Umberto Eco, so last week I listened to some more of his talks, as I had just finished the last of his monographs, “Travels in Hyper reality.” Then I was interested in what people meant when they where saying “Post Marxist Aesthetics” So I tried to read and understand that as much as possible… And at the same time a friend of mine from school had recommended a book called “Schrodinger’s Kittens and the Search for Reality” as a sequel to a book we had enjoyed- so that was awesome. And I think the books the spun a lot of this interest out where “Gravities Rainbow” and “Infinite Jest” – So that’s the last few months. Oh- and then add in tid bits of Will Durant’s story of civilization as a refresher, and some George Straight and Tim McGraw for when I was tapping out. Many of these texts are referenced in the “footnotes” I place on the back of my canvases as the context for the work. I am not very good at socializing, and as you can see I often bite off more than I can chew.
What’s your favorite post-work destination?
Post work? Everything is in service of work. I would say the best refresher is a trip to the Rockies to or a day in Downiewille, CA riding bikes or museums of any sort or getting on a plane to a place that you will have no idea about what you will do when you get off.
If you could give some advise to your teenage self, what would it be?
Never Stop Learning, never stop trying, pick your battles, mistakes are good, we all share the human condition, compromise can be a landslide, kindness is all that matters, just let go of what matters to them and figure out what matters to you, Lay off the Red Bull.
What’s next for ZZ?
I would love to keep growing, and keeping pushing towards a more authentic and real way of making. I would love to teach when possible, and learn as much as I can in the things I care about. And hopefully to inspire others a whatever way I can to be themselves and to be validated in their original expression. Oh, and some mountain biking this afternoon.
Check out his Instagram for more photos.