Ana Zoob (b. 1995) is a painter and printmaker based in both Lewes and South London. The contrasting urban and rural environments coexist in her work, which explores the profound effect our urban existence has on us and on the planet.
Ana studied History at Cambridge University, where she put her creative passion into theatre and events. In 2019 Ana began a Master’s degree at Camberwell College of Art. Here, Ana discovered a love for minutely detailed steel-plate etching, which she combines with abstract expressionist oil paintings. She has continued to bring her art to theatre-making, and in 2020-21, designed and animated a film and play about the pioneering Environmentalist Rachel Carson.
Ana graduated in 2021 and received the Artichoke Print Award and Clifford Chance Exhibition Award for her 9m piece called ‘Wander’. The goal was to engulf the viewer in her complex and sometimes vertiginous landscapes (Wander 3,4&5 are on display at Tigermoth in Lewes now!).
Since then, Ana has collaborated with musicians, videographers and designers. Her goal is to create art that is accessible and speaks to people emotionally, through collaborations across art forms.
'I make large-scale oil paintings and hard-ground etchings, and I’m always looking for new ways to combine the two. My work depicts fantasy landscapes to explore the fragile relationship between natural forces and our built environments (and hint at the destructive power of both).
But, the paintings are abstract and the etchings are surreal: the viewer can create their own stories when viewing the work.
I often start a new painting by using texture to represent the jagged lines of a city in the distance. This little human world then gets swallowed up by a fantasy landscape. As I add layers of paint, the piece becomes increasingly abstract and non-sensical.
I try to create a sense of space - of zooming out - like looking at your town from a plane window. It can be a vertiginous feeling, but it can also be pleasant and soothing to get some distance.
My dream is to create multi-sensory installations that allow viewers to float in a fantasy world, their own waking dream.'