Zolo: An artist in symbiosis with their art

Back in November '19, one of our favorite artists––and the third and final feature of the Art in Res Pride Series––joined the Art in Res ranks. Since then, Zolo has blessed Art in Res with their stunning dry pastel on paper works. Each piece distorts traditional perspective rules to create dreamlike portraits of New Yorkers, as well as the city itself.

Zolo's work is art at its most vulnerable, unabashedly presenting deeply intimate moments for the world to see. Every piece is embedded with that unique late-night energy, reserved for quiet conversations and hushed voices sharing secrets, gossip, and secrets of the universe. These works are the 3am walk home from a party, stumbling down the stairs to the subway, lines crisscrossing where they shouldn't be, legs longer than you've ever seen before. They are falling asleep on the couch with a friend and a warm fire, eyes closing softly, the world spinning as you rest your head. While in real life we usually experience these moments without any clarity, Zolo's works capture them with an unquestionable intensity and intention, allow us all to relive these moments we've forgotten.

What is a piece of advice you would give to young LGBTQ+ artists as they make their way into the world?

I think as queer people we, or many of us, have to navigate the beginning of our lives in a very different way than many cis-heterosexual people get to. Because of this, we come into contact, analyze, acknowledge, confront, and ultimately change many parts of ourselves most straight people aren’t even aware exist, or refuse to acknowledge exists. The process of coming out ingrains how important it is to be true to our desires. It shows us how much space and time is really taken up when we lie to ourselves, when we do things we don’t really want to. It shows us how to spot when we lie to ourselves, and what to do about it. I think my advice to queer artists is: capitalize on that.

In order to create at your best you need to have your head as focused as possible. You have to have begin to dig into who you truly are. Clear the debris. Figure out what is real and what is a mask. Brains are really adept at hiding things from us as a way to keep us comfortable. Being in the closet helps bring this to light. It forces us to think about how, what, and why we hide from ourselves––an important step in figuring out your true self. Many people are not aware that they hide things, and so are not even searching for anything more.

The better you get at spotting when and how you do this, the closer you can get to being a purer version of yourself, the more you will understand what you truly desire (may not even be art), the closer you will get to creating work that you really want to create. When you resonate with your art at that level, you become more invested. There is a different, more symbiotic bond created between art and artist.

Celebrate, that through our internal struggles in the closet, we are made to confront huge parts of ourselves many people keep hidden most of their lives. Celebrate this and focus on it. The journey inwards never ends. The more true you are to your own desires, the more confident you are in your desires, the easier it will be to create harmony and beauty.

And be patient with yourself––things take more time than you expect.

My work since the pandemic has taken on a more exploratory form. I am at a point in my life where many things I thought I knew about myself have shown themselves to be masks, desires I didn't realize were not my own. I took a break from art in January to clear out some space and preconceived notions about myself, and have been only really drawing and painting again for a couple weeks. I think it is liberating, and enlightening when you get to look at a blank space and 100% not care what comes out or even how you're going to get it out––no heed paid to what you expect your audience to expect from you. From these types of experiences you often glean parts of you, stylistic choices, techniques you never knew were available or desirable to you. I am not sure what is next for me at the moment or where my art will go, but I am excited to see what this next phase will shape and reveal. Much experimentation and boundary pushing to come!