Modern Miniatures

In 2013, the Zymoglyphic Museum unveiled its gleaming new "Zymoglyphic Art of the Modern Age" gallery. This miniature temple of modernism replaces the museum's ramshackle and increasingly decrepit shoebox art galleries. Visitors will appreciate the streamlined design, compact dimensions (ideal for an overpopulated world), and elegant use of recycled materials.

In 2019, a new incarnation opened in the Portland location, a museum within the museum. See here for details.

The gallery's siting, tucked under an eave in the interior of the museum, and its small size, have enabled the architect to open up the traditional box building structure. Walls and roof are present only when necessary to support the art. The museum also features a cantilevered rooftop sculpture garden.

Highlights from the collection

Found Art, also known as TTLLA (Things That Look Like Art)

Natural Modernism

"Oh no!.."

Untitled (wire)

Copula

Moss Agate

Natural Modernism relies on the correspondences between certain beach rocks and modernist sculpture. For details, see here
"Oh no..." is a digital re-creation of a water-damaged comic-strip panel redolent with references to Cubism, Pop Art, and Postmodernist appropriation, in addition to the traditional Zymoglyphic values of found art and decay.
"Untitled (wire)" updates the aesthetic of the traditional viewing stone to the modern industrial world.
"Copulae" is a pair of copper nodules into which a sexual image may be projected. This pair was formerly a single nodule which broke into two pieces.
"Moss Agate" is a slice of rock, an example of the world of abstraction to be found in the flesh and veins of mineral artifacts. These often resemble landscapes, but are appreciated for their own abstract aesthetic, not their resemblance to anything specific.

Biomorphic Abstraction

The Biomorphic Abstraction movement primarily worked with minimal planning and relied on chance and natural processes such as pigment deposition to determine the content of a painting. Biomorphic miniaturists applied the same ideas to small scale works. In the case of the amoebas, they eliminated the support medium altogether.

Untitled, acrylic on cardboard
Untitled, acrylic on cardboard
Amoebas, acrylic