SOraya zaman
Born in Sydney, Australia, and based in New York City, Soraya Zaman is a visual artist whose practice bridges photography, mixed media, and sculpture.
With a career spanning over a decade, Zaman is known for their compelling explorations of identity and the nuanced intersections of personal and collective narratives.
Their critically acclaimed series, American Boys (published by Daylight Books in 2019), documents the lives of trans-masculine individuals across the United States. This series not only resonated with audiences but also cemented Zaman’s reputation as an artist deeply committed to elevating underrepresented voices. The project was exhibited at Melbourne’s Fed Square in 2022 and has been added to the permanent collection of the Bowdoin College Museum of Art.
Recently, Zaman has expanded their practice through the SoMad artist residency in New York City. This pivotal experience has enabled them to experiment with still life and mixed media, pushing their artistic boundaries and integrating sculptural elements into their work. Their current explorations reflect a refined engagement with materiality and form.
Zaman’s work has been featured in galleries and public spaces internationally, demonstrating its universal appeal and relevance. With a practice that transcends traditional genres, Zaman continues to create work that is both socially resonant and visually arresting.
Solanum Respite Green
Mineralized archival inkjet print, Resin
9 x 6 x 1.5”
Zaman seeks to subvert the conventions of still life photography, offering an exploration of the tension between attempts at preservation and the ephemeral beauty of decay. While traditional still life imagery often fixates on subjects at their peak, Zaman's innate curiosity deliberately veers from these well-trodden paths. Instead, they redirect the lens towards unearthing moments of transition, growth, and the rejection of social norms, revealing a poignant beauty in the oft-neglected moments of existence. The materiality of each sculptural photograph has come to exist through the layering of ink on paper, resin, the crystallization of the print in a mineral bath, then drying in the environment, with both additive and subtractive processes creating a unique object. The photograph reveals itself in between salt like crystals and resin, and the multiplicity of moments past culminates in the present. The works exist in a liminal space that illuminates the tension between preservation and decay.
Exhibitions
Impossibilities