MFA Thesis

April 6th ~ April 10th, 2025; Werby Gallery, CSU Long Beach

image credit: Josh Schaedel

Life is lived in cycles. The sun rises and sets, the moon waxes and wanes. Hours pass, minutes tick by. Light leaks, shadows spill. Hard and soft, dry and wet, rough and smooth – Z-Martin actively seeks such dualities. There is power in searching with no intention to find, an ageless practice of being present and curious. Rather chaperone viewers, she steps back, encouraging owls, the “heart”, and shadow play to step in as guides. In their repetition they act in tempo to remind viewers not just to look, but to keep looking.

As a system of methods, materiality acts as a nexus point between the brain (the chemical mind) and the heart (powering the nervous system.) Through intuition, we are led into the shadowy space of sensation. This show aims to shed light on rhythms, thought patterns and beats skipped by our unruly hearts.