Artist Statement

My artistic practice is a journey into the dreamy landscapes where nature and the supernatural intertwine, a quest for re-enchantment that resonates with our deepest evolutionary heritage. Driven by an insatiable curiosity, I explore the liminal spaces where the tangible world dissolves into the ethereal, seeking to bridge the chasm that modern life has created between ourselves and the living world.

Inspired by the understanding that our senses and psyches were forged over millennia in close relationship with the natural environment we today are often so distanced from, I aim to rekindle a primal connection often muted by the abstractions of contemporary existence. My work is a response to the inherent human need for sensory immersion, for a world that speaks not just to the intellect but to the very core of our being.

Through the layering of translucent pigments that evoke otherworldly natural spaces and the weaving of visual narratives that blur the lines between the seen and the unseen, I strive to create portals to these forgotten ways of seeing and being. The supernatural elements within my work are not mere fantasy, but rather an echo of the animistic worldviews that once characterized our relationship with nature, a recognition of the inherent aliveness and mystery that still resides within the wild.

This exploration is a form of re-enchantment. I believe that by reawakening our senses to the subtle wonders of the natural world, by embracing the dreamy and the seemingly supernatural, we can begin to heal the alienation that stems from our modern disconnect.

I cultivate curiosity by presenting moments of perceptual shift, encouraging the viewer of my art to explore their own intuitive and embodied understanding of our place in the world, and to find a homecoming to the wildness that resides both within us and all around us. It is an invitation to dream with the earth, to listen to the silent language of the field, and to embrace the supernatural that resides within the heart of nature.

Artist Biography

Artist Biography

Cole Zlata grew up drawing and painting, but drifted away into an academic and professional world, collecting a PhD and working in global public health policy for twenty years. She then returned to the language of the visual world and her paintings are now held in private collections in the United States and Europe. Her practice emphasizes non-toxic materials of the highest achival-grade and she paints with no solvents. She currently lives and works in Point Reyes Station, California.