Halley Zien
Region: Northeast
My paintings depict claustrophobic interiors that contemplate tense juxtapositions between surface appearance and internal experience. Inspired by traditions that use performative masks to plumb the depths of humanity, exaggerated figures use their distortion to telegraph hidden emotional truths. Images taken from interior design magazines are populated with feverishly uninhibited characters to explore this clash between idealized representations of home and what actually plays out interpersonally while life is being lived. Collaged elements often alter the painted image to offer multiple perspectives on the same object, suggesting the variability of perception and shifting psychological states. Pieces of fabric from cast-off clothing are the residues of fashion fads and reflect lifetimes spent constructing our public personas. Stitched back together in new configurations, they become the raw essence of the bodies they once housed. The union of all these disparate mediums is meant to create a dizzying celebratory snapshot of life, both grotesque and glorious.