Zach Harris's 2013 Exhibition Features Carved Wood Paintings Evoking Spiritual Visions

Zach Harris's 2013 exhibition showcases paintings on wood with intricate carving, blending folk objects and devotional panels. Works like Wheel in Picture Light (2011–13) incorporate yin-yang symbols and diamond accumulations, creating folk cosmologies through art-historical density. The largest piece, Belvedere Torso/Finger Scales (2012/2013), resembles an altarpiece with optical depth from shadows. Harris's practice draws varied references from Tibetan mandalas to Islamic tiles and Kandinsky, but evokes visions of unseen inner tremors. His aesthetic wanders in mysterious spaces, processing broken forms akin to travelers viewing ancient ruins. The paintings are nostalgic, recalling late-nineteenth-century symbolism and groups like the Pre-Raphaelites and Nabi, longing for lost ritual. They transcend campiness through exquisite crafting, offering synthetic but hopeful resonances. The review was published in October 2013.