May 24 to Sep 1, 2025
Between the Current and the Echo
About the Exhibition
Formed in 2004, the Z’otz* Collective is a multidisciplinary trio composed of Nahúm Flores, Erik Jerezano, and Ilyana Martínez. Of Latin American heritage, the artists merge drawing, painting, ceramics, and animation to create playful, storytelling-driven works that blend tradition with contemporary experimentation. Over time, the Collective has developed a unique communal process, passing works between members to build layered, evolving compositions.
Between the Current and the Echo foregrounds the Z’otz* Collective’s commitment to co-creation, rejecting the notion of the solitary artist in favour of a collaborative, ever-evolving process rooted in spontaneity and exchange. The exhibition’s title reflects this practice, where motion and reflection, creation and repetition intertwine. Like a flowing current, the Collective’s approach is fluid and ever-changing, with no fixed plan or meaning. The echo evokes reverberations of myths, traditions, and memories—elements of folklore and pre-Hispanic art woven throughout their work. The exhibition inhabits the space between these ideas, where time is not linear but cyclical and reflective. Narratives emerge organically, inviting multiple interpretations and encouraging viewers to engage with the artwork in a way that mirrors the rhythm and pulse of time—where past, present, and future intertwine and transform.
In the world of the Z’otz* Collective, creatures emerge in flux—part bird, part beast, part human. Arms and legs protrude from wings or feathers; bodies stretch, bend, and overlap to form unlikely hybrids. These forms are layered and superimposed, as if caught mid-transformation. They reappear across compositions like recurring characters or familiar motifs—fragments from the artists’ shared subconscious. The creatures seem to be in conversation with one another, animated by a world of their own making. The result is a visual language that resists fixed identity and embraces constant change
About the Collective
Since 2004, Nahum Flores, Erik Jerezano, and Ilyana Martinez have gathered religiously on Sundays to adopt a singular artistic persona called Z’otz*. Through what is seemingly improvisational, they weave complex tales about transition, displacement, containment, and evolution. Each work is a collaboration of all three artists. One artist starts a piece, circulates it like a baton, and each artist carries the narrative forward guided by the suggestion of the others. At first glance, the finished product, which may include collage, ink, acrylic, crayon, watercolour, gouache and/or pencil, may appear to be a naïve rendition of a dream. Humorous titles serve as a guide on surreal journeys. Do not expect to be satisfied with your first interpretation, let your imagination wander. Z’otz* has done over 25 solo exhibitions in public museums across Canada, mostly in the form of installations, murals, and other public projects.
Between the Current and the Echo is supported by Partners in Art.
