February 2023 - Zemula Fleming

Zemula Fleming has explored many media and themes, but for some time now she has been drawn irresistibly to the highly detailed, richly decorative and bejeweled storytelling art of the Byzantine, Medieval, and Renaissance eras. “I am particularly fascinated by the ornate, compact design of the religious icons reliquaries, and manuscript illustrations. At the same time, I delight in the secular portraiture of these periods, with the amazing patterns, textures, and styles of the clothing, and with the people who wore them. Sometimes, too, I am inspired by different fashions such as Victorian or Rococo, and at other times I make up my own, perhaps drawing on several styles together. Using historical information as inspiration, but not limitation, I create my “portraits”. The figures and faces come from my imagination, and in each, I hope I am telling a story about a person of another era, encased in a richly decorative setting.”