About Andy Zalkin:
Andy Zalkin is an artist based in Brooklyn, New York, originally from the Catskill Mountains. She holds a BFA in Photography and Related Media, with a Minor in Art History, from the Fashion Institute of Technology, State University of New York. Zalkin’s work explores the intersections of memory, spirituality, and identity, often drawing on her Nicaraguan and Russian-Ukranian heritage and intergenerational family histories. She combines photography, mixed media, and cinematic aesthetics to create pieces that blur the lines between the tangible and the unseen, reflecting on how culture, faith, and personal experience shape the way we perceive the world.
Zalkin’s work has been featured in New York Magazine and The New York Times, and she has presented her research and artistic practice as a guest speaker at institutions including the Fashion Institute of Technology, School of Visual Arts, Youth in Focus Seattle, and the Centre for Research on Latin America and the Caribbean at York University. With a focus on both personal exploration and cultural narratives, Zalkin’s work continues to engage with themes of spiritual revelation, family archives, and the cinematic gaze, offering new perspectives on the material and immaterial dimensions of culture and experience.
Visions, 2021
Inkjet on mixed vinyl
24x60in
Artist Statement:
In this body of work, I explore the intersections of cinema, spirituality, and clairvoyant experience—forces that have shaped both my identity and artistic vision. Raised amidst the spiritual practices of my Nicaraguan family, where "el don" – or the gift of revelation - was
passed down through generations, I learned early on to see beyond the tangible. My family’s clairvoyant experiences, coupled with the diverse cinematic worlds I encountered growing up, have deeply influenced my perspective on reality, perception, and the metaphysical.
Through a mixed media approach, I meditate on how these influences converge: the mysticism and religious traditions of my Nicaraguan heritage, the rich archival histories of my Russian-Ukranian Jewish and Catholic ancestors, and the filmic narratives that have long fascinated me. These elements inform my visual language, as I seek to evoke a sense of spiritual revelation and peer through the veil that separates this life and the next - a fabric which seems to become thin the more I reach out to it.
Drawing from memories of the paranormal, photographs, and cinematic influences, I’ve shared works in progress that blur the lines between memory, history, the material, and the unseen. This work is both personal and universal, exploring how faith, culture, and aesthetics inform the way I interpret the world around me.
By Andy Zalkin
Inkjet on mixed vinyl
In this body of work, I explore the intersections of cinema, spirituality, and clairvoyant experience—forces that have shaped both my identity and artistic vision. Raised amidst the spiritual practices of my Nicaraguan family, where "el don" – or the gift of revelation - was passed down through generations, I learned early on to see beyond the tangible. My family’s clairvoyant experiences, coupled with the diverse cinematic worlds I encountered growing up, have deeply influenced my perspective on reality, perception, and the metaphysical.
Through a mixed media approach, I meditate on how these influences converge: the mysticism and religious traditions of my Nicaraguan heritage, the rich archival histories of my Russian-Ukranian Jewish and Catholic ancestors, and the filmic narratives that have long fascinated me. These elements inform my visual language, as I seek to evoke a sense of spiritual
revelation and peer through the veil that separates this life and the next - a fabric which seems to become thin the more I reach out to it.
Drawing from memories of the paranormal, photographs, and cinematic influences, I’ve shared works in progress that blur the lines between memory, history, the material, and the unseen. This work is both personal and universal, exploring how faith, culture, and aesthetics inform the way I interpret the world around me.
By Andy Zalkin
Inkjet on mixed vinyl
In this body of work, I explore the intersections of cinema, spirituality, and clairvoyant experience—forces that have shaped both my identity and artistic vision. Raised amidst the spiritual practices of my Nicaraguan family, where "el don" – or the gift of revelation - was passed down through generations, I learned early on to see beyond the tangible. My family’s clairvoyant experiences, coupled with the diverse cinematic worlds I encountered growing up, have deeply influenced my perspective on reality, perception, and the metaphysical.
Through a mixed media approach, I meditate on how these influences converge: the mysticism and religious traditions of my Nicaraguan heritage, the rich archival histories of my Russian-Ukranian Jewish and Catholic ancestors, and the filmic narratives that have long fascinated me. These elements inform my visual language, as I seek to evoke a sense of spiritual
revelation and peer through the veil that separates this life and the next - a fabric which seems to become thin the more I reach out to it.
Drawing from memories of the paranormal, photographs, and cinematic influences, I’ve shared works in progress that blur the lines between memory, history, the material, and the unseen. This work is both personal and universal, exploring how faith, culture, and aesthetics inform the way I interpret the world around me.