Painting All | Michael Ziga

Pictogram Paintings

The Pictogram series extracts advertising iconography from cities around the world (New York, Paris, Tokyo, Istanbul, Lisbon, and Athens) to create a syntax of graphic signs, subverting their original messages by recomposing the designs in opposition. Pictograms are the foundation of written language, generating meaning without words to provoke our subconscious emotions.

These works find new narratives within branding by placing pictures in violation of their intended reading to reveal the syntactics of vectorized messaging. The paintings implement digital inkjet printing combined with traditional painting techniques, weaving intricate layers of stenciled paint on the printed canvas, contrasting thickly painted graphics with soft digital brushstrokes.

Black Mirrors

The Black Mirror series draws inspiration from the streets of New York, depicting candid abstractions, produced by the city’s collective consciousness. The works are derived from black on black compositions across walls, created incidentally after graffiti is removed, resulting in unintentional abstract gestures, lacking authorship.

The works are created by sandblasting and chemically etching black mirror and glass, while simultaneously painting on the back and front of the quartz, emulating the layers found in the street. The glass is stenciled with paint, chemicals, and resin to build an artwork memorializing the forgotten details of the street. The zeitgeist produces these candid compositions, but they are largely overlooked as the city continues to hustle by. Our screens often distract us from perceiving the beautiful details of reality that are in front of us.

The series considers sentiment from DaVinci, who encouraged his students to find and paint the most cracked and decrepit walls in Florence, explaining:

“Don’t underestimate this idea of mine, which calls to mind that it would not be too much of an effort to pause sometimes to look into these stains on walls, the ashes from the fire, the clouds, the mud, or other similar places. If these are well contemplated, you will find fantastic inventions that awaken the genius of the painter to new inventions… These will do you well because they will awaken genius with this jumble of things.”

The Black Mirror series presents the unsightly as beautiful, reflecting the viewer to reveal our disassociation from reality caused by our digital devices.