ERIC ZAMMITT: Material Rhythm
“I work from a place of curiosity about something that is mysterious and unknown to me,” says the artist. “I set up a process in which complex color and pattern can arise, or happen’.”
Eric Zammitt
Los Angeles artist , Eric Zammitt exhibits a series of luminous acrylic wall-mounted sculptures at Scott Richards Contemporary Art in San Francisco during the month of April. A reception for the artist will be held on Saturday, April 6, 4 - 6 pm. The exhibition continues through April 27, 2024.
The ethereal becomes tangible in Eric Zammitt's elegant geometric mosaics. Smooth as glass, the seamless surfaces are a mesmerizing array of pulsating colors, which shift and shimmer as the light and vantage point changes. These compositions present complex optical abstractions made of thousands of solid bits of richly colored acrylic plastic formed into cohesive panels through an intensive process of construction, division, and reconstruction. Rhythmic color combinations appear to pulse with vibrational energy, recalling the sequential patterns found in music, oscillating sound and light waves and genetic sequencing. The overall effect is a compelling, almost meditative experience that enraptures the viewer on an intellectual, emotional and even spiritual level.
In contrast to his intuitive approach to the arrangement of the elements, Zammitt's method is meticulously crafted and labor-intensive. It involves stacking and adhering layers of different colored sheets of plastic, which are then sliced into thin strips and fused back together in rhythmically contrasting tones. Wet sanding and polishing the surfaces to a high finish completes the process. The result of this rigorous activity is a meditative and even spiritual experience in the finished works.
Eric Zammitt was born in Los Angeles in 1960. He studied art at Pasadena City College and California State University in Los Angeles, going on to travel through Asia to expand his artistic influences. Since then, Zammitt's work has been widely exhibited in the United States, as well as in Korea and Japan, and is included in important public and private collections such as the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Zammitt's work has also been featured in publications such as Art Ltd., the Los Angeles Times, LA Weekly and Artscene.
