Chashama is pleased to announce The Little People, an exhibition by Halley Zien at chashama 112. Ms. Zien works to represent the psychological distortion in human interactions. Each piece seeks to establish a visual language that depicts the emotional inner life of its characters. These characters, the “little people” are distorted to exaggerate their psychology; their outward appearance reflects their internal state. Like masks, they are made purposely larger-than-life to telegraph their emotions and character to the audience.

Ms. Zien is an extraordinarily sensitive and perceptive person for whom the entropy of personalities, desires, and fears is very real and intense in the social situations she witnesses. The characters are by turns pathetic, familiar, loathsome, personal, joyful, lusty, furious, lonely, and awkward. These states are treated with equal respect and understanding; her paintings are celebrations of every aspect of human life, from the most petty and hypocritical to the grandest pain and joy.

This exhibit is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts.