In this Glyphs exhibition there are 3 grid images in which I placed small drawings in a neutral (grid) structure. The arrangement of the drawings is intuitive, unplanned, allowed to evolve — keeping the process alive for me as I work. Each grid can be experienced — or “read” as a kind of graphic message composed of symbols or glyphs. The glyphs themselves are arbitrary images, or forms suggesting natural processes.
In a series of small collages I have used small drawings arranged in free floating relationships emphasizing structure / color and visual relationships over solitary images.
Throughout I am engaged with the notion of forgotten or hidden languages, with images evoking uncertain deities, or gestures occurring spontaneously by living beings (trees) or stones as they weather.
I work without definite plan, looking for unexpected relationships and happy accidents that keeps the process alive and responsive.
I made the ink or pencil drawings in small notebooks over at least 20 years. They were not meant to be anything formal or complete, but were more like mental notes, graphic responses to things seen … once I began to scan and digitize the images they suggested further possibilities …
For my current project I wanted the images to be experienced simultaneously instead of being seen serially by turning notebook pages. After digitizing the drawings, I printed them on lightweight Washi paper, then added ink and watercolor. Each drawing was then cut out and collaged onto heavier Mitsumata paper.
Bio
Zea Morvitz grew up on the East Coast, received a BA in Philosophy from Wellesley College and studied at the Art Students League in New York before moving to the San Francisco Bay Area. At UC Berkeley she studied painting with Elmer Bischoff. The artist and her husband currently live in West Marin, a rural area 50 miles north of San Francisco. Morvitz is a founding member of Gallery Route One in Point Reyes Station, where she co-directs the Visiting Artist Program.