2020 Reviews

Zipora Fried: Between Light and Dark

Scherling, Laura S.

On November 21st, 2019, Zipora Fried’s solo exhibition As the Ground Turns Solid opened at the contemporary art gallery Sikkema Jenkins & Co., with a series of eight large-scale drawings. As the Ground Turns Solid was on view until January 11th, 2020. In Fried’s series of pencil drawings, she examined the flora and fauna of Lamu Island, where she recently completed an art residency through the organization Tilleard Projects. Fried’s visually arresting drawings consist of painstakingly-composed lines that capture the unique features of the isolated Lamu Archipelago (located near the northern coast of Kenya) with its “explosive” sunsets, lizards, cicada bugs, birds, and fruit trees intertwining with its “infinite characteristics of the sand,” white walls, Arabic arches,” and traditional dhow boats that come and go as if “by divine providence.”