Barnett Newman is most celebrated for his iconic "zips" - paintings characterized by their imposing presence that feature slender, vertical bands of color that traverse the canvas. The zips are the most abstracted form of the human body; they mirror the viewer’s presence, inviting them to embody the “emotion of human scale”*.

Today, the human is ever-present; the senses extended through screens and satellites. Nature's Zips pays homage to Newman's transcendent oeuvre. Departing from abstract realms, this collection borrows the powerful form of the zip to mark the entangled realities of species, creating a landscape genre that oscillates between Sontag’s window and mirror.

Sculptural elements from the forest come to life, reminding us of the origin of our aspirations and mimicry while capturing the essence of those moments when one pauses to truly behold the world around them. Thus, Nature’s Zips is not only a tribute to the timeless pursuit for transcendence within the serenity of nature but also a poignant reminder of the delicate balance between humanity and the natural world.

*Barnett Newman, John Philip O'neill, and Mollie Mcnickle, Barnett Newman : Selected Writings and Interviews (Berkeley: University Of California Press, 1992), 186.

Sontag, Susan. On Photography. New York Picador, 1977.