Victoria Zaba

Artist Statement

As a student deeply fascinated with the cultures of ancient civilizations, my work focuses on imagery from myths and religious stories typically in the form of oil painting, digital, charcoal, and graphite drawing. My interest in pop culture, nostalgia, and ancient Mediterranean history mingle together to inspire my work. Sometimes, I will create just for the sake of fulfilling my constant desire to bring imagination to life, and other times I will create realism works with deeper undertones that comment on modern issues I am passionate about.

I am become healthy; The swinger of strikes

In my younger and more vulnerable years, my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since. "Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone," he told me, "just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had." He didn't say more, but we've always been unusually communicative in a reserved way, and I understood that he meant a great deal more than that. In consequence, I'm inclined to reserve all judgments, a habit that has opened up many curious natures to me.

Artist Biography

Victoria Maria Zaba is a Polish-Canadian second-year university student who has a deep fascination with realism and classical art and architecture. Zaba is currently completing a combined degree in Visual Studies and Greek and Roman Studies along with a minor in Architecture. Her passion for art was heavily influenced by her mother, who painted with oils herself and brought her to many museums regularly, both in Canada and Poland as a child. Having grown up in a Catholic household, religion has always been in Zaba’s life. Though she may not strongly connect with religion itself, she has developed a fascination for the storytelling and characters of both Catholicism and ancient Mediterranean myths.