Story
bump on a log
Hello, my name is Zalman Berkowitz.
Zalman is a yiddish variant of ‘Solomon’ as in that biblical king. It means ‘man of peace’. My purpose here in this life is to create images of peace.
To create a powerful image there has to be something behind it, something real, something that people can relate to in an authentic way. My art practice continues to show me that in order to make a good ‘image of peace’ I must work to embody that ideal, a harmonious contrast of elements. To ‘make peace’ really, we have to BE peace. Yeah, it’s simple, and tougher than it sounds (so far!).
I am always working towards some form of harmony and reconciliation, some expression of love. My artworks are examples of my various struggles and explorations towards balance, towards living in alignment with my highest purpose, my ‘greatest possibility’. Life is contrast. We must eat which means our food must die, so that we may live. Eventually we die also and still life continues, a constant composed of change. Profound and simple, right? How cool is that!
I work with various motifs and styles of mark-making; sometimes dualistic, sometimes triadic systems of composition using line, form, color. I seek the balance of tension between forms and that’s what I find beauty to be. Could be the tension between the immediacy of a distant ambulance and the calm reflection of water rippling on a surface at the Locks in Ballard. Could be pairing a bottle of Krug with 7 flavor beef at Wild Ginger where I worked as a Sommelier (read: ‘pack mule’), or that first cold beer after hours of mountain biking in the desert with the cactus. Peace is also described as ‘Balance’ and that is where I find the most pleasure.
The work is difficult, frustrating, even impossible feeling sometimes and then there are those spontaneous moments of Satori when beauty captures my attention, I notice ‘art’ is just happening and I scramble to document it.
I love to mix it up, and I love a good party. I completed Artist Trust’s Edge (Art Entrepreneurial)program in 2008 and then organized the RISE gallery as an exercise in ‘positive reciprocity’. We put 26 local and regional artists, 130 pieces of contemporary art in a 7,000 sq.ft. gallery at Seattle Design Center for 10 months. We invited Kerala Ayureveda Seattle for a Wellness Spa… We sold 23 of our 26 auction items on opening night raising several thousand for Rise ‘n’ Shine and had the kids come in and paint. Glorious.
In 1997 I moved to Manhattan to study art and fell into the wine trade. I had the privilege of working with Michael Green http://www.liquidassetscg.com/who_we_are who inspired my passion for wine.
Since 1998 I have functioned as a consultant, buyer, sommelier and wine educator. I have worked with Gourmet Magazine and the Food Network, Food and Wines from France, Fortune 500 companies, and for many years as a sommelier in Grand Award restaurant(s). I have designed proprietary wine programs and events with restaurants, companies, national trade organizations, charities and individuals. I am available for tasting groups and parties (Did I mention I love throwing a good party? Because I do.). I am passionate about learning, and wine offers me the continued pleasure of discovery. My approach to wine is passionate, knowledge-based, casual and conceptual.
WORD.
Word. I love language. In 2000 I began to speak my poems out loud in front of other people, and I have done this off and on, with varying intensity. I am still one of those annoying punsters, I love how some words sound the same and have multiple interpretations. All symbols are available to explore perspectives, and the capacity for language to communicate ideas is always expansive. Lately I am incorporating free-verse spoken word pieces with images and video, sometimes paintings. My poetics are developing a musical quality and they feel, well, Jazzy. The free verse functions as a structural element and lends the bones to tell stories. Fun Times!
This time, I will leave you, Dear Reader with someone else’s words:
“… it is less clear when a piece of [Art] makes any truly stunning difference. But that doesn’t matter. Some need art to give their lives meaning, while others just need to keep making it because it seems there is nothing else to do. “
- ‘Survival of the Beautiful’ –David Rothenberg
