ART STATEMENT

Sunday, 17 August 2025

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Zaptabby is an intuitive artist whose work combines spontaneity and control. Allowing artwork to evolve organically, Zaptabby synthesises abstract elements, representational art, typography and text to convey emotions and subjective experiences. Zaptabby also uses the process of abstraction, (simplification, fragmentation and deconstruction), as an analogy to the breakdown in traditional values, historical facts and spirituality in western modern society.

Additionally, the interplay between visual art and music, combining traditional and modern art forms, disrupting the mainstream narrative, blurring historical facts, integrating fragmented memories and personal spiritual locations are all jumbled and deconstructed, resulting in unique and expressive pieces. Experimenting with mix media, styles and techniques are also at the forefront in Zaptabby’s art development, embracing unexpected results and building layers of color and texture.

Subject Matter and Themes

Classical Music — Improvisation, Spontaneity, Chance: juxtaposing music and visual art, highlighting the shared interplay between abstract art elements with rhythms, tempo, sound, texture, harmony and contrast in music.

Zeitgeist — Spirit of the Time: mirroring modern society; the western hypocrisy and selective encoding of facts, imagery, events and the breakdown in ‘traditional’ patterns in behaviour.

Fragmented Memories — Disordered Recollections: random non-linear narratives, jumbled thoughts, change and transience, contradictions, blurring historical facts with fiction, fusing cultures and languages.

Gesamtkunstwerk — Total Work of Art: expressing the relationship between art and life, combining traditional and modern art forms, including photography, typography, painting, printmaking, drawing, digital and video art.

Figurative Abstraction — Expressive Mark-Making: portraiture and still-life.

Blurring Realities — Intentional Camera Movement: nature and landscape.

Spiritual Locations — Transcendence, Contemplation, Connection: places with special personal meaning, natural landscape, churches, graveyards, historic sites.

The Wanderer — Capturing Fleeting Moments: random snapshots, virtual walking, evoking memories and emotions, engaging in the sights and sounds of Sheffield and surrounding areas, exploring Sheffield’s historic heritage, architecture and industrial sites.