BIOGRAPHY
Ze Krizan is a queer printmaker currently based out of Cincinnati. They are a BFA candidate at University of Cincinnati’s College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning. They have a focus in relief printing, but have a lot of experience in screen printing as well. Most of their work focuses on darker themes. Their most recent body of work focuses on the overlap of the trans experience and body horror. They spent 2022 working with Visionaries and Voices as part of their education department.
ARTIST STATEMENT
I am concerned with my own personal discomfort. My work deals with my mental health, and my queerness, specifically dysphoria. Both of those experiences correlate with feeling betrayed by my own body, and mind. It feels like working against yourself, and at times being pulled apart. I would like others to experience something akin to what I do. I am interested in horror as a lens through which to convey my ideas. Specifically body horror, and the idea of transformation against one's will.
I typically begin my process by leafing through old journals and pieces, seeing what ideas I can cannibalize for new work. Afterwards I expand on those ideas with research and planning. My predominant medium is printmaking, specifically relief. I like how it feels to carve into a block, cutting out an image. The repetition of carving and printing feels ritualistic, and allows me time to meditate on the meaning of the work.