Zaria Montgomery
Zaria Montgomery is a student at the University of Central Arkansas, studying to get her BFA in Graphic Design. She enjoys animation, graphic design, and character illustration. She makes work about the plus-sized community, societal problems, and mental health issues. She works across multiple mediums, combining digital art with crochet in her creative process. While developing her voice as an artist, she has been to therapy sessions, listened to music, and even started writing, many outlets that all lead her back to art as her true way of expression. Dealing with being a plus-sized African American woman in today's time, she has built her voice around expressing not only for herself but also for those similar to her. She is also a member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated.
Some people talk, others may write, some sing or scream. But me. Art is my chosen expression. When the brush hits the paper, when the wire is bent, when the hook meets the yarn. I can create with my own hands, so why not use them for the good of what I believe. As a christian plus sized black woman from America, everything I did and even do to this day has been critiqued. My mission is to give a voice to people in my corner who do not get the same limelight. I want to give more representation, a better representation to plus-sized women that isn’t about just making clothes in our size or even just excluding us from society, but actually allowing plus-sized women to exist without critique. I want to give representation to women of color that isn’t just our negative stereotypes; I want women to see themselves in those higher-up positions that not many of us make it to. Make a playing field that even lets us get to the finish line, one that allows us to even run.
—Manifesto—
Feel free to email me: zariamontgomery.art@gmail.com