ZAE
Multidisciplinary Artist • Actor • Production Professional
Contact
• Email: Zaedoingitbig@gmail.com
• Phone: 619-852-0868
• Website: www.zaeart.com
Artistic Identity & Philosophy
For nearly six decades, ZAE has devoted his life to the pursuit of art. A third-generation artist, he was immersed in creativity before he could speak. Raised by a severely handicapped mother who put herself through college to become an art teacher, he learned early that art was more than expression. It was resilience. It was purpose. It was freedom.
Drawing began before language. Creativity came before everything else.
Today, ZAE is best known for large-scale abstract paintings and expressive drawings that evoke transcendental feeling, emotional resonance, movement, and freedom. His work reflects a lifetime spent exploring the relationship between color, energy, memory, and imagination. Every painting and drawing represents another chapter in a lifelong journey dedicated to artistic discovery.
His greatest accomplishment is not a single exhibition, publication, or professional credit, but the body of work that continues to emerge from a lifetime devoted to creative exploration. The paintings and drawings stand as a living archive of experience, curiosity, perseverance, and artistic courage.
Recognized by respected curator, author, and art historian Lanier Graham, whose distinguished career included work with the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), the de Young Museum, and the Norton Simon Museum, ZAE’s artistic journey was further documented through the historic book The Color of Light, written in collaboration with Graham. The book examines significant works from ZAE’s career and documents a lifetime devoted to artistic exploration.
Over the course of his career, ZAE’s work has found homes in private, corporate, and institutional collections. Several collections containing his work also include pieces by celebrated artists such as Marc Chagall, John Singer Sargent, and other influential figures whose contributions helped shape the history of art. While his artistic voice remains distinctly his own, his inclusion within these collections reflects the enduring resonance of his work among serious collectors.
His Southern California studio serves as both sanctuary and workshop, where decades of artistic experience continue to evolve into new forms. Whether creating monumental abstract canvases, installations, or intimate works on paper, ZAE approaches every piece as part of an ongoing conversation between imagination, experience, and discovery.
For ZAE, art is freedom, emotion, curiosity, and fearless exploration.
Philosophy: “Free is art!”
Professional Highlights in Fine Art
- Third-generation artist with nearly six decades of artistic dedication
- Internationally collected by private, corporate, and institutional collectors
- Artwork preserved in corporate and institutional collections
- Exhibitions and placements featured through galleries, institutions, and publications including O at Home Magazine
- Exhibited throughout California, New York, Georgia, and internationally
- Recognized by Lanier Graham, curator, author, and art historian associated with the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), the de Young Museum, and the Norton Simon Museum
- Recognized by Johnny Sampson of the Catalina Island Museum
- Co-author of The Color of Light, documenting significant works from his artistic journey
- Works represented in collections that also include pieces by Marc Chagall, John Singer Sargent, and other historically significant artists
- A lifetime body of work spanning painting, drawing, installation, performance, media, and visual storytelling
Studio & Practice
ZAE’s Southern California studio is both sanctuary and production ground for large-scale abstract works, installations, and drawings.
Working across multiple media while maintaining a singular artistic voice, he creates work that resonates with collectors, curators, institutions, and the public alike.
Whether working on monumental canvases or intimate works on paper, ZAE approaches each piece as part of a lifelong conversation between imagination, experience, and discovery.
Early Life & On-Camera Beginnings
Before many artists experience their first exhibition, ZAE was already appearing before national audiences.
- Performed live on national television with Coretta Scott King during a remembrance of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. before age eleven
- Interviewed KISS on national television as a child through Kids World
- Performed live commercial segues for WTBS Channel 17
These early experiences established a lifelong relationship with media, performance, and storytelling.
Selected Acting Credits
- Wonder Man (Marvel/Disney)
- Grey’s Anatomy
- Dexter
- It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia
- Paradise City (Seasons 1 & 2)
- The Pitt (Warner Bros.)
- St. Denis Medical
- All American
- Numerous commercials, industrial productions, and independent films
Production, Direction & Technical Expertise
Training & Skills
- Classically trained in videography under George Gentry of National Geographic
- Expertise in camera operation, directing, lighting, audio, editing, graphics, and design
Professional Experience
- Built and launched television stations and academic broadcast programs
- Camera operator and director for live broadcast, film, television, and corporate productions
- Worked on Showtime specials featuring Jeff Foxworthy and Sinbad
- Production collaboration involving Alan Alda
- National television projects with Scott Miller in Los Angeles
Political, Institutional & Corporate Work
- Camera operator for Jimmy Carter
- Camera operator for Newt Gingrich for three years
- Production work involving Max Cleland and other public leaders
- Long-term production work for Colonial Pipeline
- American Cancer Society productions
- Broadcast builds for Mercer University and Reinhardt College
- Aviation documentation projects for Honda
- Productions for Camp Sunshine
- Productions for Kroger House
- Productions for Six Flags
Community & Charitable Involvement
Throughout his career, ZAE has contributed his production and creative talents to charitable, educational, and community-focused organizations.
- Production support for Camp Sunshine
- Production support for Kroger House
- Contributions to American Cancer Society projects
- Participation in charitable, educational, and community-focused productions
These experiences reflect a career dedicated not only to creativity, but also to service, education, and community engagement.
Sports, Music & Cultural Projects
- Camera operator for Herschel Walker
- Camera operator for John Smoltz
- Camera operator for Deion Sanders
- Camera operator for Bill Elliott
- Production involvement with Atlanta Olympic events
- Production involvement with Super Bowl festivities
- Backstage and production work involving David Bowie, Nine Inch Nails, Santana, Pink Floyd, and Avenged Sevenfold
- Major jazz festival coverage
- Professionally trained guitarist whose musical background continues to influence the rhythm and movement found within his visual art
Cultural & Religious Experiences
- Private session attendance with the Dalai Lama
- Camera operator for a rare multi-bishop Catholic production
Licenses & Additional Background
- Licensed General Contractor, California
- Licensed Real Estate Agent, California
- Ongoing acting training at Tower Talent Studio, San Diego (2022–Present)
Legacy
Every discipline in ZAE’s life feeds the same source: an enduring creative force.
Painting, performing, filming, building, documenting, and designing are all expressions of the same artistic voice that emerged in childhood and continues today.
This is not a hobby.
This is not a phase.
This is a lifetime.
ZAE’s abstract works are the distilled result of decades spent inside studios, on film sets, behind cameras, in galleries, and in front of audiences. They carry the weight of experience, curiosity, perseverance, freedom, and emotional depth that cannot be manufactured or replicated.
His career represents a rare convergence of fine art, performance, media, education, public service, and cultural engagement. The result is a body of work that stands not only as personal expression, but as a lifelong record of creative dedication.
For Collectors
Collecting a ZAE artwork is more than acquiring an object. It is participating in a living artistic legacy built over a lifetime of continuous creation, exploration, and discovery.
Each painting and drawing represents another chapter in a journey that has spanned nearly six decades. Collector support allows that journey to continue, helping new works emerge from a studio devoted entirely to artistic expression.
For those who choose to collect ZAE’s work, the reward is not only ownership of an original artwork, but participation in an ongoing creative legacy whose next chapter is still being written.
In a world increasingly driven by speed and repetition, ZAE remains committed to the pursuit of originality, authenticity, and artistic freedom. His work invites viewers not merely to observe, but to experience, reflect, and connect.
