Zan Zeller

they/them

Houston, TX, USA

Zan Zeller is an artist based in Houston, Texas. They received a BA in Art History and Visual & Dramatic Arts with a concentration in Film/Photography from Rice University. Zeller was one of the inaugural recipients of the Joan Hohlt and Roger Wich Emerging Photographer Scholarship at the Houston Center for Photography from 2019-2020. They currently serve as Assistant Director at Koslov Larsen, a gallery space exhibiting contemporary art with an emphasis on photography-based work. Zeller’s curatorial work centers on providing platforms for queer and marginalized artists, while their own artwork investigates experimental photo-printing media, art historical and religious context, and queer identity as divine expression.

“Fool’s Armor presents the archetype of the medieval fool as modern queer resistance. The fool is historically illustrated as an antagonist, a trickster, and, above all, an impious soul with no respect for god nor kings. For those of us living on the margins, the fool becomes a relatable character — a stand-in for our own supposed immoralities, impieties, and even unorthodox fashion sense. Heavily incorporating the ancient artisan craft of chainmail, Zeller presents the fool as a knight in playful armor, and as an archetypal ancestor through which we establish a lineage of resilience and challenge to normative authority.”

zanzeller.com

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How does your work relate to the theme transformation— How does the work translate joy into strength?

“Fool's Armor explores the relationships between identity and presentation, strength and softness, resistance and resilience. ‘The Banner of the Fool’ is a chainmail sculpture referencing medieval archetypes in a modern context. The knight, the wearer of armor, embodies strength and purity of resolve. This protector is contrasted with the Fool (jester, trickster, and madman). In medieval art, the fool is a useful character in moralizing narratives, stories which teach us how we should live and what behaviors to avoid. They are most frequently shown arguing -- with monks, kings, god, and even the devil. This strength in standing up to authority, in being fearless to live on the margins, is where the fool is representative of the queer experience.

Chainmail, as an object, embodies the concept of strength in community -- each ring cannot stand alone, but together form a strong weave. The sculpture integrates hardy metals with delicate silk ribbons, a dichotomy of materials highlighting the tension between outward presentation and inward identity. Objects in this series explore the armor we build up to protect ourselves and our community from an increasingly threatening world. The fool becomes, out of both necessity and love, a knight in playful armor."

"The Banner of the Fool", Mixed media (chainmail, silk ribbon, bells, cord trim), 16.5" x 22" x 1", 2024