STATEMENT
Zachary Betts’ equivocating sculptures are simultaneously familiar and difficult to deceipher. Like artifacts from a world that is akin to but not our own, these objects emulate the forms of everyday objects while obscuring their purpose. The use of silicone and various metals intensify their cold, smooth, and machinelike appearance, heightening qualities of the sterile and melancholic while still being emotionally charged. Sometimes made of collage-readymades and sometimes reproductions of newly made objects, each sculpture combines elements that are industrially fabricated with those that are meticulously handcrafted using a variety of traditional techniques.
Zachary Betts’ equivocating sculptures are simultaneously familiar and difficult to deceipher. Like artifacts from a world that is akin to but not our own, these objects emulate the forms of everyday objects while obscuring their purpose. The use of silicone and various metals intensify their cold, smooth, and machinelike appearance, heightening qualities of the sterile and melancholic while still being emotionally charged. Sometimes made of collage-readymades and sometimes reproductions of newly made objects, each sculpture combines elements that are industrially fabricated with those that are meticulously handcrafted using a variety of traditional techniques.
BIO
Betts has shown his work nationally and internationally at various galleries, including CICA Museum in South Korea, SOIL Gallery in Seattle, FJORD Gallery in Philadelphia, Adler & Floyd in Chicago, MCAD Gallery in Minneapolis, Well Well Projects in Portland, and the Visual Arts Center in Austin amongst various others. He has completed residencies at the White Page in Minneapolis, FOGSTAND in St. Paul, the Vermont Studio Center in Johnson, and a recipient of the 2019//2020 Jerome Foundation Fellowship for Early Career Artists. Betts received his BFA in Studio from the University of Wisconsin - Stout and his MFA in Sculpture + Extended Media from the University of Texas at Austin. He currently lives and works in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Betts has shown his work nationally and internationally at various galleries, including CICA Museum in South Korea, SOIL Gallery in Seattle, FJORD Gallery in Philadelphia, Adler & Floyd in Chicago, MCAD Gallery in Minneapolis, Well Well Projects in Portland, and the Visual Arts Center in Austin amongst various others. He has completed residencies at the White Page in Minneapolis, FOGSTAND in St. Paul, the Vermont Studio Center in Johnson, and a recipient of the 2019//2020 Jerome Foundation Fellowship for Early Career Artists. Betts received his BFA in Studio from the University of Wisconsin - Stout and his MFA in Sculpture + Extended Media from the University of Texas at Austin. He currently lives and works in St. Paul, Minnesota.