Contemporary Art Matters is delighted to present Almond Zigmund’s solo exhibition: Hard Won Harmonies . Zigmund, an artist based in East Hampton, New York, is known for her vitalic sculptures and site specific installations. In this exhibition she brings together a new body of paintings and works on paper that blend dynamic patterns and vibrant block figures, installed on an on-site painted grid background, exploring ideas of beauty through her play of geometric shapes and vivid colors. The exhibition will run from November 21 through January 3, 2025, with an opening reception on Thursday, November 21, 5-7 pm.

Almond Zigmund Artist Statement: Hard Won Harmonies

The pursuit of harmony—whether in art, architecture, or society—is often conceived as the search for balance, resolution, and tranquility. But harmony is never truly effortless. It is the product of conflict, negotiation, and a constant reckoning with the forces that shape us. Hard Won Harmonies reflects this understanding: that order is a construct, precariously sustained by tension, restraint, and resistance.

In this work, the formal language of geometry—sharp lines, acute angles, and bold color combinations—mirrors the struggle embedded within the idea of harmony. The viewer is invited to confront the dissonance within the piece, to recognize that what appears balanced is, in fact, the result of competing forces vying for dominance. It is not harmony as an ideal, but as a reality, one shaped by continual adjustment, compromise, and imbalance.

The use of vivid, almost jarring color relationships further intensifies our awareness of the precarious equilibrium inherent in the work. Here, color is not a passive or decorative element, but an active participant in the tension, reinforcing the idea that visual harmony is constructed through opposition. The interplay of these contrasts—between light and shadow, form and void, precision and distortion—reveals the fragility of the spaces we occupy.

In Hard Won Harmonies, there is no final resolution. The tension persists, just as the spaces we inhabit are never fully stable, never entirely secure. By inviting the viewer to engage with this tension, the work suggests that harmony is not a given, but something we must continuously strive for, with the full knowledge that it is always, by nature, incomplete and contested.

To live in the world is to live within this tension. The piece asks not for submission to harmony but for an acknowledgment of its cost—a recognition that beauty, structure, and stability are not inherent, but earned through the often unseen struggles that define both our built environments and our inner landscapes.

Originally from Brooklyn, NY, lives and works in East Hampton, NY. She received her BFA from Parsons school of Design in New York. Zigmund studied with the MacArthur Award-winning critic, Dave Hickey at UNLV where she received her MFA. Her works have been widely exhibited, most recently at The Church in Sag Harbour, NY, Parrish Art Museum in Southampton and Onna House in East Hampton. She was awarded a sculpture commission with the American Embassy in Paraguay.