Nettie Zan in the Blue River. “The river is my church,” Zan says. “It is the place of play and prayer. It is the source of truth. It is a laughing song that feeds all who come to her shores. She nourishes me.” (photo by Jim Barcus)
The Kansas City Artist is fired by an ethic of reclamation and a commitment to nature
Through the tender crafting of narratives on canvases, paper or on a stage, Nettie Zan’s voice echoes with introspection and interconnectedness. Zan is a performer, painter and writer who enjoys nurturing, creative spaces. Their work reverberates with the landscape that shaped them — the viridescent Ozark Highlands. This connection runs as deep as the rivers that once carved its mountains.
Zan’s creative journey began at 9 years old when they began to write, and as they said, “They never stopped.” At 17, frustration with the perceived constraints of the hand in writing led them to drawing. This affair between pen and brush has flourished into prolific work that includes more than 20 books, novels, poetry and art books.
Zan’s passion for community has guided much of their career. During their thirties, they were dedicated to fostering art spaces like the beloved, now-closed Uptown Arts Bar. Zan is also a former artist-in-residence at InterUrban ArtHouse. Their ability to connect and create speaks to Zan’s broader philosophy: Actual growth comes from “knowing thyself instead of producing thyself,” a refusal to divest from truth-seeking in favor of fleeting external validation.
In early 2018, Zan left for the woods. “I looked at my identity as an artist and I allowed it to dissolve,” they said. “So much changes when you live close to the earth in that way… There is such a smallness to everything.”
Indeed, that deliberate time away allowed the artist to shed and be reborn in the waters of Lick Creek. Without a phone, money or contact with the outside world, Zan experienced an awakening. Those experiences positioned Zan’s creative endeavors at the intersection of science and spirituality, with an uncompromising commitment to Nature. This holistic approach finds expression in their ongoing visual sequence, “small gods of animals,” a collection of modern ‘petroglyphs’ that emerged from this time in the intentional communities in the woods of Missouri. These pieces explore deep collective bonds and are evidence of Zan’s belief that “Nature has the answers, what good is a revolution without a path after? And the path after is listening to the lessons of Nature.”
Early this year, Zan’s solo exhibition, “Decline Limitations” at Vulpes Bastille, offered a deep dive into these themes, utilizing “small gods of animals” as a springboard. Through resourceful approaches to working with found items like curtains, rugs and a wide array of fabrics, Zan embraces sustainability. “There is so much junk in the world already,” they mused, “I couldn’t bring myself to add more, so I quit painting for a decade . . . After getting back from the woods, I decided I was going to paint again. That’s where my ethics came from, using reclaimed materials; everything is essentially trash, donated, or found.” This reclamation perspective is a valuable metaphor for piecing together fragmented narratives that shape many conditions that make Zan’s communities and their identities.
Each piece in “Decline Limitations” displayed unframed edges that mimic the show’s main subject of challenging boundaries by acting as a physical defiance of confinement. Every piece invited the viewer to touch and feel, facilitating a subliminal connection rather than being valuable commodities. Zan emphasizes the flexibility and the surrender to the materials: “The more I control, the more rigid and impersonal it becomes; the less I control, the more my authenticity is there, so I just lean into this.” This relinquishing to the natural and wild was abundantly clear throughout the exhibition.
In August, Zan’s works, including “A Gut Feeling” were featured in the “Past Futures” exhibition at Zhou B Art Center, a collaboration between No Divide KC and Habitat Contemporary Gallery in conjunction with the annual Queer Narratives Festival. Gallerist Elise Gagliardi curated the show. The works illustrated another layer of the artist — snakes, rendered in spray paint over burlap, slithering freely against an androgynous body. The deliberate absence of gender in these paintings and previous work reflects Zan’s trans agender identity.
Aside from the page and the brush, Zan broadens their transformative influence through their meditation practice, acting as a meditation instructor in various environments. Yet again, showcasing their multidisciplinary approach to creating community with creative mindfulness at its core.
While painting has undoubtedly been a source of immense healing and renewal, it’s just one facet of their expansive universe. In fact, given the current political and cultural landscapes, Zan’s focus isn’t on their next artistic project at all. “If you are going to challenge this culture, you have to change it,” they assert, “so I am not going back to work, I am going to rest and be of service to the community. That’s what’s important to me.” Zan believes the next project will emerge when the time is right, driven by an authentic call to contribute.
