ERIC ZENER
Sanctuaries
In his novel Siddhartha, Hermann Hesse wrote, “They both listened silently to the water, which to them was not just water, but the voice of life, the voice of Being, the voice of perpetual Becoming.”
The figures in Eric Zener’s paintings are anonymous, representing humans in general, often immersed in water, in the process of becoming. “The figure in the water,” Zener explains, “is more of a metaphor for returning to a place of renewal or sanctuary.”
Often, his figures plunge into water, creating an envelope of bubbles, a lifeline for land dwelling creatures. In Breaking Free, the diver is about to break through the envelope into the undisturbed water beneath, a return to the primal element. In Where I End and You Begin, a man and a woman float in the water, their corporeality breaking up in the play of light on the water uniting the two for an instant.
He says, “Water is a great metaphorical place that touches on vulnerability. There’s a sense of the abyss in front of you. It touches on the voyager in all of us—the seekers of truth.”
Morning Stillness addresses the enveloping aspect of nature on solid ground. “It’s about being immersed in nature as a whole…alone,” he comments.
“I really enjoy painting for painting’s sake,” he explains. “I enjoy realism, but embrace looseness at times and want the paintings to be about paint and painting rather than attempting to re-create a photo.”
His latest paintings will be shown at Gallery Henoch in New York, May 16 through June 8.
Zener invites the viewer to join him on the voyage. “The images I make transport me to a place of calmness and a sense of connecting to something maternal, and eternal,” he says. “At times they may be surrendering to something unknown while in others they are basking in the clarity of light.”
Gallery Henoch 555 W. 25th Street • New York, NY 10001 (917) 305-0003 • www.galleryhenoch.com