& Friends Gallery

Arjan Zazueta

It's Hard To Be A Human Being

The Blobs are a series of drawings and paintings depicting fleshy, anthropomorphic characters who inhabit simplified landscapes. The drawings from this series are made with layers of colored pencil to create rich surfaces that have a balance of precision and fluidity. In this series, I’m focused on examining male vulnerability and the performance of masculinity through a hetero lens. The naked, male Blob poses, sometimes with a hat or shoes, hyper-aware of how he presents to the world. I’m interested in the complexity of that performance from both a critique and analysis, in the idea that vulnerability, while typically a negative quality, can allow for authenticity and a full range of male emotions.