Jody Zellen with her “Artforum Collages”, 2022
Jody Zellen Santa Monica, CA Age 63
What keeps you excited in the studio? Trying new things and making different types of work.
Looking back at your trajectory as an artist, how would you say your work has developed? I move back and forth between the digital and analogue and each new technoology I embrace leads to something new that is non-digital. My trajectory has not been a straight line but a zig zag between a lot of different media.
What role do you think the artist has in today’s society? To enhance, to decorate, to challenge to encourage creative and critical thinking.
What’s the most important advice you could give to an aspiring artist? Don’t get discouraged and follow your heart and don’t worry about your career or the art market. Do your own thing!
Does age matter in art? Why or why not? Yes. The market celebrates the new and the young and older artists get lost if that do not have gallery careers. But young artists don’t know their art history or have a history with looking and making so while young artists might generate a buzz, older artists should also be celebrated and applauded for sticking with it.
What can we look forward to from you next? a new suite or lenticular images that are still versions of my ongoing animations.
Is there anything else you would like to share about being an artist later in life? Never be bitter about career and the art world.
http://www.jodyzellen.com @photonews5
Jody Zellen, Installation view, Woodbury University, 2022