ARTIST STATEMENT
One of the themes in my artwork is the portrayal of the voiceless or suppressed. A corollary of this depiction is the recognition that even if a voice is temporarily suppressed, the voiceless one continues to see, to witness, to process, to renew, and with time to have its say. So there is also an assertion of persistence, of quiet strength, of endurance as a special kind of unassailable and unstoppable Voice eternally sounding an essential resistance to “shut up!”
Although the imagery in my paintings, like dreams, rely heavily on visions spontaneously arising from the unconscious, those images are often triggered by specific sociopolitical undercurrents of the times. While the wars, traumas, abuses, and moral dilemmas triggering the images may be specific to the moment, I seek to convey and explore the more universal psychological reality active within the specifics of this time and this place.
The imagery that drives my painting process seems to arise from an insistence on highlighting some human or cultural predicament in need of greater empathy or integration into our conscious awareness. Human faces are often the vehicle I use to engage the viewer’s empathy and interest. What constitutes a successful painting for me is the activation of empathy rather than polarization for it is empathy that allows us to hear a voice.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Jane Zich is a San Francisco Bay Area artist whose award-winning artwork has been exhibited nationally and featured in solo exhibitions. Her work appears on the covers of American Psychologist, Dream Time, Flare, Fiction Fix, Jung Journal: Culture & Psyche, and Permafrost Magazine and has been published in Agave, Catamaran Literary Reader, Gambling the Aisle, Ignatian, Lone Mountain Literary Society Magazine, Meetinghouse Magazine, Metonym Journal, Midwest Review, Paper Dragon, Pensive: A Journal of Spirituality & the Arts, Reed Magazine, Sand Hills Literary Magazine, Santa Clara Review, Saranac Review, Still Point Arts Quarterly, Stonecoast Review, Stonecrop Magazine, Trickster Literary Journal, The Pacific Review, West Marin Review, and Winter Tangerine Review.
Her published book “PANTHER TRACKS: Lessons from the Vision Journey Paintings” (2025, blurb.com) examines ways partnering with imagery from the unconscious can deepen the creative and healing process and includes more than 150 of her paintings. More of her work can be seen at https://www.zichpaintings.com.
© Jane Zich