I must admit when I took these picture of trees aflame in the fall, and of snow mounds after a winter storm, I did not envision their images forming the vibrant patterns of a geisha’s flowing silk robes. But luckily I know Zoe Langosy, a figurative artist with a unique view of the world.
Zoe grew up in Somerville in an area made notorious in the 1980’s by Whitey Bulger and the Winter Hill Gang. It was in fact that gang’s activities and the negative impacts on Zoe and her sister that convinced her parents to move the family to Lexington. There, in school as well as in her family’s bohemian household, Zoe’s artistic talents were fostered. Eventually she traveled the world, living in London and Los Angeles before returning to the Boston area.
Her beautiful melancholic images have been exhibited in galleries in Boston, Los Angeles and London. She and I became friends while working together in a local shop. Somerville Open Studios has presented a great opportunity for collaboration that has already sparked conversation about future projects. Time will tell. Right now the focus is Open Studios where Zoe’s contemporary geisha — three of them — will be clothed, and in some cases tattooed, with bits of sunlit leaves, shimmering snow, and rain-kissed flower petals.
View more of Zoe’s work here.
“The leaf has a song in it.” For that line alone, from the poem What Can I say, I am grateful to Mary Oliver.
Words + Images 