​Anthropocene
- /ˈanTHrəpəˌsēn/ adjective - relating to or denoting the current geological age, viewed as the period during which human activity has been the dominant influence on climate and the environment.

Opening Reception    May 21st, 2022    4pm-6pm 
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Show runs from -
May 21st, 2022 - June 25th, 2022
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​​​​(Click above image for press kit)​

Statement

My art is a narrative statement of human impact on wild animals and their adaption to urban areas and weather pattern changes.  Through global warming, urban sprawl and excess human consumption, indigenous animals have persevered and even evolved to fit in to our world. I have worked many years as a re-forester and have seen the devastation that can happen when things go awry with nature. I have seen animals trying to survive in the most unlikely places; birds nesting in high tension towers, salamanders making homes in beer cans, bears, coyote and bobcat roaming urban territory.
After researching the endangered status of each animal and becoming familiar with their stresses, I sketch my thoughts on paper and decide whether I will sculpt, etch or paint my subject. 
I paint or etch what I cannot create in clay. Coming from an illustration background, I use this opportunity to tell a story or set a mood more deeply. Showing fight scenes among native and non-native birds, the rush of a pack of wolves running through city streets or a bobcat roaming through an abandoned building -- all have an impact that go beyond the boundaries of sculpture. 
My etchings have a way of freeing my hand that sculpture and painting can’t really achieve. There are always happy “accidents” and the pleasure I feel when I pull the damp paper off the plate that I will never tire of.
My current direction is to continue to push forward into the world of ceramics, etching and painting, creating work that focuses on climate change.  I will continue to show how the animals are adapting to new weather patterns; mudslides, superstorms and wildfires and how we might help them survive. 
Recently, I have been exploring the Kintsugi method of repair. This centuries old Japanese art is used to restore what was once broken and make even more beautiful using gold leaf. This is a very tricky process that takes skill and patience. I mend and then use the gold leaf to ‘heal’ an animal back into existence. I have used this gold metaphor with both my porcelain sculptures and painting.

(These six images represent a small percentage of the entire exhibit - see the full exhibit in person or contact us for addition images and info on the entire exhibit.)

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Biography

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​Tricia Zimic was raised on Long Island, New York in the 1960’s. As a youth, she spent many hours drawing with her mother at the kitchen table. She would draw popular cartoons from the 40’s & 50’s and would draw made-up plants and animals. Her dad finally built an art studio for her in the basement which allowed her to explore the world of art undisturbed, without being obligated to clean up the creative mess! She used anything she could get her hands on – house paints, India ink, self- hardening clay or found objects to create her own oeuvre. She had a passion for storytelling through art and would spend days thumbing through artbooks and going to museums. Tricia's earliest influences were Maurice Sendak, Amedeo Modigliani and Pablo Picasso. She went to art camps and took printmaking classes at C.W. Post College. She knew that the only choice for her was to be an artist like her mother and grandmother before her. She decided to go to Parsons School of Design for illustration to expand her skills and while there, had the opportunity to study with Maurice Sendak. 

After graduating, she made a living as a children’s book illustrator. Tricia worked with several major book publishers for many years, including Scholastic, Simon & Schuster, and Viking-Penguin. Some of the books she illustrated became quite popular, such as the Nancy Drew Files, and she also enjoyed painting many cult-classic movie posters for Troma Inc., including the infamous Surf Nazis Must Die, as well as one of the classic posters for Toxic Avenger.

She gave up illustrating to tell her own stories, and her love for the outdoors became a strong theme. She volunteered as a native plant reforester in a 2000-acre reservation in Essex County, New Jersey and founded The Wildflower Sculpture Park and Preserve there. It is now a thriving sculpture park with many well-known and emerging artists. Her passion for animals finally had a medium that could tell story story – ceramics. To show how animals persevered, despite living right on top of us in an urban environment. This series culminated in many exhibitions, including a solo show of paintings and sculptures at both the New Jersey Historical Society and New Jersey State Museum. 

Tricia transitioned from creating with ceramic to porcelain. While porcelain is beautiful, strong and transparent, it is also persnickety and sometimes an unforgiving medium. After traveling to Germany and discovering the famous Meissen porcelain collection, she decided to sculpt the classic Sins and Virtues in her own contemporary narrative, using the baboons inspired by early 18th-century artists.  According to Thomas Michie, senior curator of decorative arts at Boston Museum of Fine arts “this has never been done before”.  

She uses Chacma baboons because of their important Meissen heritage, their human-like expressive faces, and, of course, their opposable thumbs that are good for holding stemware! Sculpture similar to these were originally created in the 18th century for the dining table to stimulate provocative discussion. Tricia has been invited to show three of her Sins & Virtues sculptures this summer (2022) at the Mecca for porcelain at the Meissen Gallery in Germany.

Her recent sculptures and paintings are inspired by the century’s old art of Kintsugi. This concept embraces damage and emphasizes imperfections with gold leaf to mend a crack, usually in pottery. She is using this method as a metaphor to ‘heal’ animals that are endangered or ‘of concern’ by mending them with gold.

Website - https://www.triciazimic.com/Artist.asp?ArtistID=36403&Akey=XPRY2J6X
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/tricia.zimic
​Instagram - ​​https://www.instagram.com/triciazimic/