Artist Statement

My mind has always been a refuge from the scariest parts of my life – loss, rejection, and invisibility. The characters that I create tell a story, my story, to process all that life continues to teach me. These creatures allow me to escape myself, to understand myself, and to see myself from the inside out. In this connection to humanity, my hope is that these creatures serve to help the viewer build a bridge to their own challenges, insights, and breakthroughs in the same way they’ve lit the path for me.

Biography

Chris Zaccaria (AKA Abusive Robot) is an NYC based painter and multi media artist who tells the story of his life through alien-like creatures, daring colors, and spiritual symbolism. Growing up in the outskirts of Philadelphia, Chris developed a keen imagination to escape the often dangerous reality of being an LGBT child. His overactive imagination was fostered and mentored by his mother who encouraged creativity and expression. Her tragic death is what drove Chris to create the boldly visual world known as Abusive Robot. Since then, Chris’ Brooklyn art studio has become home to the otherworldly realities of his Abusive Robotics creatures. His ability to process complex emotions and break them down into relatable yet fantastical imagery is where his backgrounds in spirituality and data analysis harmonize, and where the boldest colors in acrylic paint take visual form in shapes and patterns. With influences as diverse as astrology and meditation to Dr. Seuss and Eastern European religious iconography, his work is where the everyday happenings of life in New York City get turned upside down and embark on a supernatural journey.