I make abstract work by putting materials into situations where I do not fully control the outcome. Fire, water, time, and place are not references in the work; they are active participants in how it is made.

Many pieces begin outside the studio. Paper may be burned, submerged in the ocean, or exposed to environmental conditions that alter its surface and structure. I then return to the studio to respond to what remains. The process moves back and forth between intervention and restraint, following the logic of the material rather than a predetermined image.

Alongside this material engagement, my practice is informed by an attention to the broader conditions of the moment. Some bodies of work respond to collective or cultural shifts through abstract form and tone rather than direct representation.

I am interested in what happens when authorship is shared, between artist and material, and between the work and its moment in time. Rather than representing events or landscapes, each piece functions as a record of contact, physical, temporal, and contextual. I think of these works as objects that hold presence, meant to ground a space, slow attention, and offer focus rather than explanation.

M. Zassenhaus

EXHIBITIONS

2025 Contemporary Art: Path To The Biennale with the ECA (Group), Venice, Italy

2021 M.Zassenhaus (Solo), The Yard Gowanus, Brooklyn, NY

2020 Ultra Local (Group), Van der Plas Gallery, New York, NY

2020 Vor Kunst (Group), Van der Plas Gallery, New York, NY

2020 Artist in Residence (Solo), Bond Collective, Brooklyn, NY

2019 Fathom (Solo), Rockaway Artists Alliance, Queens, NY

2018 Lightning Whelk (Group), The Castle, Rockaway Park, NY

2018 Many Layered Moments (Group) , Gowanus Dredgers Boathouse, Brooklyn, NY

2018 Beyond What's Known (Solo); Rockaway Artists Alliance, Queens, NY

2017 City Meets Sea; Big Lake (Group);  Site:Brooklyn @ The Yard, New York NY

2017 City Meets Sea (Solo), Brooklyn Workshop Gallery, Brooklyn NY

2017 City Meets Sea (Group), Brooklyn Editions, Brooklyn NY

2008 Big Lake (Solo), Superfine, Brooklyn NY

EDUCATION

1992 - 96 BFA, Art Photography, School of Visual & Performing Arts, Syracuse University

PRESS

Aug 2019 BKLYNER: Michelle Zassenhaus, Images of Gowanus

May 2019 The Wave: Feature: Fathom

May 2018 Rockaway Times: Review of Beyond What's Known

Oct 2017 Don't Take Pictures : Feature: Filter Photo Festival Review

Sep 2017 L'Oeil de la Photographie : Featured Portfolio: City Meets Sea

For all inquiries, please email studio@mzassenhaus.com