Founding member

ZEPH

Interdisciplinary Artist | Painter

Founding member

Zeph is a multidisciplinary artist and founding member of the Returning Artists Guild. Working primarily in oil painting while also creating drawings, sculpture, textiles, poetry, and mixed media, their work examines disability, incarceration, addiction, mental illness, grief, politics, and identity. Since joining RAG, they have received commissioned work, gallery exhibitions, press coverage, and artist grants while participating in exhibitions, retreats, workshops, peer mentorship, and public speaking.

Artist statement

I create grungy, full-saturation oil paintings with over-the-top imagery. Fueled by the desire to isolate the viewer from the audience and allow them to participate in the voyeurism of a space that most look away from, these images come to me almost as fever dreams, coalescing into surrealistic scenes of self-distortion. Created mostly from my bed, the iconography that spans my work represents my struggles with addiction, disability, the healthcare system, and the politics that align to diminish my quality of life. It also reflects the loneliness and profound grief that come with those experiences.

ZEPH

Artist statement

Calendar items featuring ZEPH

Grind/Time

RAG Solo: ZEPH, Pharmakeia