WOOLFF GALLERY PRESENTS ZAC FREEMAN

Here is a film about Zac Freeman, THE incredible junk portrait artist.... I was general assistant/runner/weather watcher & toilet finder(!) on the Woolff Gallery shoot for his film....

Zac Freeman lives and works in Jacksonville Florida and we spent 4 fabulous days with the artist, his friends & family (& his cats) learning about his processes and inspiration. Please watch the film, but I have also written a basic outline of the films story for anyone that wants words...

Zac Freeman

Just like a regular artist uses different sized brushes to create their paintings, Zac Freeman uses different sized objects to create his junk portraits.

Zac Freeman 'Justin'. This is the artwork he was working on in the film

Choosing to create only portrait work in a sense limits the artistic story, however if you are going to tell a story & use less words, each one of those words means a whole lot more. By using junk as his medium Zac Freeman feels that the story can be broadened, we can read a lot more into his work by looking at the individual objects in each artwork than we could if we were looking at a portrait created using just paint, or pencil. Looking at the objects tells us details about the subject and their life when close up, and when we stand away from the artwork we see the portrait and the image of the person very clearly.

Artwork detail

The objects Zac uses come from all sorts of places, they are often collected by the subject, or by friends and family and given to Zac, nothing is purchased by the artist. Zac feels that every object he uses has its own energy & history, he would never alter an object or change the objects in anyway whatsoever, the pieces have their own individual story and now they will be used in an artwork and given new life. 

The connection between objects and people is obvious, we all use objects every day and to create a portrait using objects that relate to, or have been owned by one of Zac Freeman's subjects creates a connection by giving the viewer a visual piece of the subjects life.

Zac is often given bags of junk by people which he then processes in his studio – he would need to wash all of the objects otherwise the glue will not stick to them, he then sorts them into different colours, and from there into size. Each object is categorised by colour and size & stored in crates in the studio.  He likes these objects to be organised and have its place.

Filming Zac in his studio, with his work to the bottom right of the image

Zac started creating portraits using just black, white & neutrals but he quickly saw the need to add colour into his work, the studio has shelves and shelves of crates all organised into their different categories.

Zac Freemans first assemblage artwork 'Dave'

Zac Freeman's first assemblage artwork ‘Dave’ (one of Zac’s best friends) – was made out of Zac’s personal possessions, things that he had collected or hoarded for many years. For example there was a chain from a bicycle the Dave himself had broken. Dave says that when people look closely at the work what they see is junk, but what Dave sees is memories and reminders of the things that the two of them did when they were growing up together.

Technology and objects change so fast in this world, for example initially everyone had 8-track tapes, then everyone had cassette tapes, then CD’s, then it goes to digital & what do we do with all of those things? One of the things that Zac has used since the beginning is black film cannisters, initially these were readily available however these are becoming more and more rare since the introduction of the digital camera. This gives Zac's work an added dimension in that they become a kind of time capsule, in years to come many of the objects will be obsolete.

'David'

Zac takes all of his own photographs for his artworks. He tries to capture several emotions in one instance for his portraits. He likes the viewer to see the finished portrait in different ways – it could be pensive, or deep in thought, he leaves it open so that the portrait can be read in many ways, the viewer may project their own emotions onto the portrait rather than there be an obvious mood or emotion. He would initially take around 100 photographs and out of these hopefully one would be useable. These are then gridded and marked in relation to the canvas, and work commences. Zac works close up on these portraits which is incredible, there are no cameras or computers involved in the process, it is a simple and unique process.

The artworks take up to three months to create, they are never built sculpturally correct, the nose will not necessarily protrude it may be flat & the cheeks protrude. 

'Mikee'

The narrative that Zac Freeman is trying to create is about everyday people & everyday objects, its about us in this time and this place – it about our culture and the reflection of us in the things we use & the things we throw away. The objects used they are the things that very often inhabit our lives from the time we are young to the time we die.

Zac is influenced by life, our culture and what is happening around us, his inspiration all just comes from life. He enjoys the idea of someone looking at the artwork many years from now, and thinking about what they would think about the objects he has used. Something he has put on an artwork today looks reasonably common, but in 100 years from now it will be completely archaic, so old – people will not be able to believe we used phones like the one we use. The artworks save a time and place, they represent our culture & how we lived just through the objects that we all use every day. Any portrait that comes out of Zac’s studio is a story, all of it happened and it is there in the artwork for you to read.

'Steve' (my personal favorite!)

Zac Freeman's work has recently been seen on banners & billboards across London. He was selected to create an artwork for the Absolute Vodka campaign.

Zac Freeman in the spot where he designed his Absolut Vodka artwork - in his local bar 'Pete's'

Absolute artwork in Zac's studio, ready to ship.

Zac Freeman's Absolute artwork on a banner on Shoreditch high street, London