Elizabeth Zvonar
Elizabeth Zvonar uses collage, sculpture, and photography to question and critique Western art from the Classical period to pop culture today. Her collage works aggregate history and science textbooks with fashion magazines and objects of new media, employing hints of irony, humor, and iconography to ask viewers what we as a society worship, and to show viewers the repetitive nature of representation throughout history. Zvonar references paintings like
Ingres
Grande Odalisque
to draw parallels between media of the past and the media we consume today, bringing into question historical canons to address cultural constrictions of power. Within her work, Zvonar engages with a feminist perspective to further highlight the imbalances of representation and cultural bias. In addition to her collage work, Zvonar’s sculptures incorporate similar themes. Exploring the inherent hypocrisies in media’s depiction of women, consumerism, and history, Zvonar dismantles and disrupts the body, creating hands, feet, arms, and legs to be seen as objects and pieces rather than whole beings. Not only do these pieces comment on the objectification of the body, but they also serve as a documentation of the language of gesture. Just as Zvonar draws from historical documentation, she also renders hand gestures that reflect contemporary …
Elizabeth Zvonar uses collage, sculpture, and photography to question and critique Western art from the Classical period to pop culture today. Her collage works aggregate history and science textbooks with fashion magazines and objects of new media, employing hints of irony, humor, and iconography to ask viewers what we as a society worship, and to show viewers the repetitive nature of representation throughout history. Zvonar references paintings like
Ingres
Grande Odalisque
to draw parallels between media of the past and the media we consume today, bringing into question historical canons to address cultural constrictions of power. Within her work, Zvonar engages with a feminist perspective to further highlight the imbalances of representation and cultural bias. In addition to her collage work, Zvonar’s sculptures incorporate similar themes. Exploring the inherent hypocrisies in media’s depiction of women, consumerism, and history, Zvonar dismantles and disrupts the body, creating hands, feet, arms, and legs to be seen as objects and pieces rather than whole beings. Not only do these pieces comment on the objectification of the body, but they also serve as a documentation of the language of gesture. Just as Zvonar draws from historical documentation, she also renders hand gestures that reflect contemporary attitudes, creating a catalogue for the future.
Zvonar is represented by the Daniel Faria Gallery in Toronto, and has held solo exhibitions at their gallery as well as other Vancouver galleries such as Vancouver Art Gallery Offsite, Gallery 295, Contemporary Art Gallery, and Artspeak Gallery. In addition to her solo shows, Zvonar’s work has also been shown in group exhibitions in the Art Gallery of Ontario, Soil Gallery in Seattle, Art Labour Gallery in Shanghai, The Quiet Music Festival of Portland in Seattle and many others. In 2015 she was presented with the VIVA AWARD by The Jack and Doris Shadbolt Foundation for the Visual Arts and followed by a number of other awards was given the City of Vancouver Mayor’s Award for Emerging Visual Artist in 2009.
