We recently had the chance to connect with Jody Zellen and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Jody, thank you for taking the time to reflect back on your journey with us. I think our readers are in for a real treat. There is so much we can all learn from each other and so thank you again for opening up with us. Let’s get into it: What do the first 90 minutes of your day look like?
I wake up at 5:30 am. First thing every day I make three drawings. I like to draw before I get pulled into answering emails or reading the newspaper. I began making daily drawings in 2004 and have not missed a day since. The first drawing, black pen on A4 paper, is more like a scribble of geometric shapes and lines made while listening to the first song that comes up on my media player that is longer than 3 minutes. The next drawing, also to music, contains a silhouetted figure or many figures depending on my mood. The third drawing is similar to the second one, but smaller and made in a small notebook (A6 size). After making my drawings, I go for a run (minimum of 5 miles) or ride my bicycle for 18 miles along the beach. I usually exercise for an hour to an hour and a half each morning. After these morning rituals, my day begins…
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I am a visual artist, graphic and web designer and long distance runner. I make interactive installations, mobile apps, net art, animations, drawings, paintings, photographs, public art, AR projects, as well as artists’ books. What motivates me as an artist is to learn how to use and then integrate technology into artworks that enliven and activate both public and private spaces. My works take advantage of chance juxtapositions and I hope they inspire thinking about relationships between what is seen and what is imagined. My practice flows back and forth between analogue and digital processes. Words and images culled from the news media have long been a source of inspiration. I am drawn to the poetic potential of news headlines and for over six years have created a daily collage that juxtaposes news images and their headlines that l post to Instagram @photonews5. I also make a ton of animations and am excited to be working on an installation where I will exhibit them across fifteen monitors of differing sizes. This show will be at the Boston Cyberarts Gallery in April 2026. A recent favorite project of mine is a set of face emojis with a wide range of expressions. Anyone can download these for free from the Apple app store. (https://apps.apple.com/us/app/jody-zellens-art-emojis/id6476070442)
Thanks for sharing that. Would love to go back in time and hear about how your past might have impacted who you are today. Who saw you clearly before you could see yourself?
Krzysztof Wodiczko was a professor I had in graduate school at CalArts who came to my studio one day to look at my work. At the time I was printing large mural-sized photographs and cutting them up, then taping them back together. They were piled and layered on the floor and while looking at them, he stated, “This is Architecture!” That has stayed with me ever since.
If you could say one kind thing to your younger self, what would it be?
It never gets easy, but don’t give up. Continue to do what you love to do. Be aggressive and try to make your shyness go away.
Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. What’s a belief or project you’re committed to, no matter how long it takes?
I have a lot of ongoing projects. In addition to my daily drawings, I have posted a collage to Instagram each morning since 2019. At the end of the year I sequence these 365 collages into a movie. I now have six years of images and have composited them together into a single animation. Although I change the visual look of the images each year, the content derives from the daily news. Each December, I say enough is enough, but then I come up with a new way of working with headlines and news images and so it continues. I am also committed to trying, despite injuries and setbacks, to reach my goal of running a marathon in under three hours and ten minutes. I was close to this time in 2021, (3:10:38) but since then it has been one injury after another. But I am back at it now working on improving my speed.
Before we go, we’d love to hear your thoughts on some longer-run, legacy type questions. When do you feel most at peace?
I feel most at peace when I am drawing and when I am running. The longer the run, the more at peace I feel. I do also get absorbed in the process of making — be it drawing or composing animations. These are really the only times when I am lost in my own thoughts and really do feel at peace.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.jodyzellen.com
- Instagram: photonews5
