Director Quentin Tarantino, three-time Academy Award Nominee director David Lynch and Billy Gibbons, original founder of the legendary Texas rock band ZZ Top, are just some of the boldfaced celebrities who have been seduced by the work of glitter artist, Sue Zola. But Zola, who uses glitter to evoke emotion and recreate cultural icons and symbols of the 60s, 70s and 80s is not fazed at all. Her work has been featured in high-profile TV and stage shows and in magazines for years; its attention-getting, bright, shiny, funky pieces a metaphor for our current and past times. Nostalgic too, because we can all relate to playing with glitter (and crayons) as children. Zola has taken child’s play to a whole new level. Her work marries the innocence of glitter with the maturity of her subject matter. From her dead-on recreations of the face of Jesus to porn star Jenna Jameson, Zola expresses our worship of salvation and sin. “My work is a reflection not only of the things – and people – that made an impression on me in my childhood,” notes Zola, “but also reflects the cultural focal points I see every day.”
Zola’s glitter art has appeared in Las Vegas art shows with legendary punk rock icons Iggy Pop, Mark Mothersbaugh of Devo and Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon to benefit the Burlesque Hall of Fame and Breast Defense. Her art pieces have been seen on VH1’s reality show, The Pick-Up Artist, The Food Network’s Diners, Drive-In’s & Dives and the hit show Will and Grace. Her work has also appeared in Elle Magazine, chosen as an Austin favorite by musician Amy Cook. And in addition to her numerous Austin art shows, Zola has been exhibited in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Miami where she has also been part of Miami Art Basel group shows in 2007, 2008 and 2009.
Although originally from the east coast, Austin, Texas has been her hometown since 1999 when she jumped into her pick-up and headed out west from New Haven, Connecticut. She wound up in Austin Texas – dubbed America’s quirkiest city – where she has been ever As for exclusively using glitter in her work, “I have had a thing for glitter since I was in second grade. I’ve never out-grown it. Making glitter art over the past decade has allowed me to live outside the box. That’s also ideal for living in Austin.”