Kūpuna with Zasha Welsh
Exhibiting | November 4 - 26th , 2022
Online Collection Release | November 3rd, 8pm PST
Opening Reception | Friday, November 4th, 6:00-9:00pm PST

Kūpuna

To me art is a deeply personal thing. It puts me in touch with my most playful, childlike, and effeminate self. It translates me outside of my physical form and allows me to express versions of myself that I tend to suppress. I draw inspiration from iridescent plastic ponies, rocks covered with lichen, and other wild treasures and memories from childhood. I love using the most obnoxious sickly sweet color pallets available and attempting to convince the viewer that everything here is normal and as it should be. I love when chartreuse can look like sunlight touching a surface gently and not the ugly color my father thinks it is. I love when a friend tells me that my lighting is nonsensical and I totally ignoring their critique. In the best, most coveted moments, I feel free from rules and other people’s opinions and somehow in my tiny rebellion I receive genuine love from the most unexpected sources.

The elements of my art (the rocks, the plants and the animals) are all kūpuna, meaning ancestor or grandparent. They came before us in the timeline of our planet and they made us who we are with their influences and nurturing. They dutifully move us though reciprocal exchange whether we're here for it mentally or not. I listen by watching kūpuna and observing their patterns and I can see myself reflected back. I can show my gratitude by painting these moments and trying to capture the life in these moments. Gratitude and reciprocity is absolutely necessary to the health of these relationships as well as our well being and survival.

My name is Zasha Welsh. I am Irish and Native Hawaiian. I was born and raised in western Washington but transplanted myself to Arizona about 10 years ago. I do botanical field work and am interested in small scale community centered restoration. I’ve always enjoyed art. My father taught me how to mix paints and build canvases when I was young, but I’ve never had formal training. Painting came back into my life 3 years ago after years of exploring more functional media. In the future I want to incorporate glass, clay and woodwork into my painting practice. I also dream of spending time painting the flora and fauna of my native Hawaii.