About — VALERIE ZEMAN FINE ART

Artist's Statement

My art pieces are evocative, engaging, and thought-provoking as one looks closely into the means of their creation and even more broadly into their meaning - whether through textiles, encaustic layering, printmaking, or painting - my art gives dimension to feelings in the same way a poet draws us in through the complexities of language. Memories surface through my art. It’s where I find my “voice,” which was far too absent in my younger life and could be why text is sometimes overlain in my work.

In terms of creative influences, my Long Island origins and surroundings — about which I am passionate — are my muse and comprise my primary color palette of marsh, beach, and wood. These influences and expressions form the basis for my art through which I explore life's questions and relationships.

Bio

Throughout her career in art, Zeman has availed herself of courses and workshops taught in the U.S. and abroad by such notables as Dorothy Caldwell, Claire Benn, and Jane Dunnewold, among many others. Zeman’s work has appeared in galleries and juried exhibits in many Long Island venues, as well as in Manhattan. Zeman is affiliated with Surface Design Association, Studio Art Quilt Associates, East End Arts, Huntington Arts Council, Art League of Long Island, and the Textile Study Group of New York.

In addition, Zeman has taught workshops in such techniques as low water immersion dyeing, screen printing, arashi and itajame shibori, soy wax resist, breakdown printing, and paper lamination.