Artist Statement

Frank Zurbano (°1974, Manila, Philippines) is an artist who mainly works with pencil and ink. He has been interested in imagery of fantasy and science fiction since early childhood. Frank graduated from Iowa State University with a Bachelor’s in Fine Arts with a focus on drawing, painting, and printmaking.

In his illustrations, he tries to create a window into dueling themes of nature and technology. His drawings reference recognizable forms of humans and animals. The results are deconstructed into different interpretations of religion and science. His work never shows the complete structure, so the viewer can easily imagine their own interpretation without being hindered by contemporary symbolism.

His current works, a series of mask drawings, are an investigation into human needs to cover their faces, using both form and function. Frank explores concepts of identity, disguise, and usability, and how that has changed and what it could look like in the future.

Let me explain.

“It is utterly incomprehensible, and is therefore full of deep significance.” – Calvin