Zack Zublena Interview by Singulart: Gold Photographer, Aspen Colorado

Unveiled Instinct, gold leopard art for a warm room of wood and stone

Aspen, Colorado, is a town that turns to gold every autumn, when the aspen groves of the Roaring Fork Valley glow against the Rocky Mountains. It is also a town of galleries, chalets and fireside lounges, where art is lived with, not just looked at. In an interview hosted by Singulart, Zack Zublena, the French-American fine art photographer who paints the human body in gold, talks about light, stillness and the body as living sculpture. It is a conversation that suits Aspen, and the leopard art and lion art that has become part of his signature: fine art photographs where gold-painted figures merge with big cats, shown here as a triptych, a diptych and a set of single framed prints.

New to his work? Begin with the Animal Fusion collection, the images collectors return to again and again.

The triptych: leopard, leopard woman and lion

This triptych brings together three fine art photographs from the Animal Fusion series: a leopard, a gold-toned leopard woman and a lion woman. Hung side by side as a set of three, the leopard art and the lion art speak to one another, one gaze after another, the way a great room in an Aspen chalet or the lobby of a mountain hotel would want them. A triptych tells a story in three moments, exactly as Zack Zublena describes in the interview.

Discover the leopard and lion art of the Animal Fusion series

The return of feline art

Feline art is making a powerful return. Designers, hoteliers and collectors are once again drawn to the leopard and the lion: symbols of elegance, strength and quiet power, and perfect companions for warm interiors of stone, timber and fire, from Aspen chalets to Snowmass lodges. Zack Zublena is part of this movement with a rare advantage: he photographed these animals himself, in Africa. Having worked as a professional photographer in South Africa since 2012, among the light and wildlife of the safari lodges, he brings real leopard art and lion art to a fine art language of gold, where the human figure and the big cat become one.

The lion woman, fine art lion art in bronze and gold

From Africa to the gallery wall, Zack Zublena offers his leopard art and lion art as single fine art photographs, as magnificent diptychs and triptychs, and as complete series and sets composed for a space. Large formats are available for hospitality and business interiors: hotels, spas, clubs, restaurants, lounges and lodge lobbies, where a single monumental print or a full triptych becomes the heart of the room.

Who is Zack Zublena?

Zack Zublena is a French-American fine art photographer who has painted dancers, yogis and contortionists in gold since 2016. He began as a professional photographer in South Africa in 2012, and has lived and worked in Los Angeles for eighteen years. Each photograph is crafted by hand, never AI.

Gold, light and Aspen

Few places carry gold the way Aspen does: the aspen groves of Colorado in autumn, the alpenglow on Aspen Mountain, the warm light of the Maroon Bells. The town's art conversation unfolds in the Aspen Times and the Aspen Daily News, and across Colorado in the Denver Post. Its institutions set the tone: the Aspen Art Museum in the heart of downtown, and Anderson Ranch Arts Center in nearby Snowmass Village, one of the most respected art workshops in the Rocky Mountains. Fine art photography in gold, with its sculptural light and stillness, speaks the same language.

The interview, in his words

What are you currently exploring in your artistic practice that excites you the most?

I'm exploring how gold body paint can turn the human body into something timeless, like a living sculpture. Right now I'm working on two series: Dark Elegance, with quiet, introspective poses on black backgrounds, and Golden Heroes, a project to photograph 22 Paralympic athletes in gold ahead of the 2028 Games, to celebrate strength and the beauty of every body.

Beyond the big cats: the photograph that says it all

The leopards and lions of Animal Fusion are one chapter of Zack Zublena's work, and in many ways the exception. Most of his photographs are quieter: a single gold figure, held in silence against a deep black background, as in his Dark Elegance collection. So when Singulart asked him which artwork on his profile best represents his practice today, which photograph would he choose, his answer was not a big cat.

Is there a particular artwork on your Singulart profile that best represents your practice today? Tell us why you chose it.

Moonlit Reverie II – Embrace. A golden figure holds herself in silence, against a deep black background. It captures what I look for in every image: stillness, vulnerability and quiet strength, with nothing but light, gold and the human form. It is also part of a triptych, which shows how I like to tell a story through three moments of one gesture.

Moonlit Reverie, a golden figure in silence, from the Dark Elegance collection

What experiences, places or moments have had the greatest influence on the artist you are today?

Starting as a professional photographer in South Africa in 2012, among the light and wildlife of the safari lodges, taught me to wait for the right moment. My French and Italian roots, and visiting my family's village of Zubiena, home to a gold museum, shaped my love of classical beauty. Eighteen years in Los Angeles and ten years of gold body-paint photography did the rest.

Is there a story about your artistic journey that people don't usually know, but that has shaped who you are as an artist today?

Even after years of photography, I went back to school last summer to study painting at the Accademia del Giglio in Florence. Learning to see light and form the way the old masters did changed how I compose every gold figure, and it is why my photographs feel closer to sculpture than to fashion.

That Florentine training also lives on in his workshop in Italy, where Zack Zublena creates original commissioned paintings alongside his photographs. Discover the custom lion portrait, bespoke majesty for your home.

Are you currently working on anything you'd like people to know about?

Yes, Golden Heroes: a project to photograph 22 Paralympic athletes in gold ahead of the 2028 Los Angeles Games, to celebrate strength, resilience and the beauty of every body. The first athletes are already involved, and I'm planning a Los Angeles campaign and a world tour of the work.

Your background in dramatic arts clearly informs your practice, especially in how you direct bodies to communicate emotion without words—how do you draw upon your experiences as an actor when working with your subjects, and in what ways does performance remain present behind the camera?

Every shoot is a quiet performance. Before I shoot, I talk with the model about the emotion of the scene, such as tenderness, protection or surrender, and then we let the body find it. Gold removes the face's identity and makes gesture everything: a tilt of the head, the shape of a hand. I direct the way an actor builds a scene, and I wait for the moment when the pose stops being a pose and becomes true.

Having lived and worked in both Paris and Los Angeles, how have these diverse environments shaped the evolution of your photographic language and your relationship to the themes of presence and transformation?

My French roots gave me a love of classical beauty, restraint and the history of art, while eighteen years in Los Angeles gave me light, space and the freedom to experiment. Together they shaped my language: the composition of a classical sculpture, lit with the openness of California. Both places taught me that presence is about stillness, and that gold can transform a person into something timeless.

The diptych: two leopards, one dialogue

A diptych sets two fine art photographs in conversation: here the leopard and the gold-toned leopard woman, framed in walnut and hung in a travertine hall, as they might be in a downtown Aspen gallery or the entrance of a mountain home. Together they form a pair from the Animal Fusion series, a quiet dialogue between the wild and the human.

The leopard diptych, two fine art photographs in dialogue

You're known for painting bodies in luminous gold and using light to sculpt your compositions—what first drew you to this striking visual approach, and what does gold represent to you both personally and artistically?

In 2016 I began painting dancers, yogis and contortionists in gold, and I haven't stopped since. Gold removes everything that defines us from the outside: skin color, status, even identity. What remains is the body, its gesture and its light. For me gold is a sacred frequency, a symbol of the divine within each person, and the idea behind my book, The Sacred Frequency of Gold. Artistically it lets light sculpt the figure like a statue that breathes.

Unveiled Instinct, fine art for a luxury hotel corridor

Your work often features dancers, yoga practitioners, and contortionists, allowing posture to become a powerful visual language—what is your collaborative process like with your models, and how do you guide them to help express the emotions and narratives you envision?

It starts with a conversation. Before painting the gold, I share the emotion I'm looking for, such as tenderness, protection or surrender, and the models bring their own sensitivity and mastery of the body. Dancers, yogis and contortionists already know how to express feeling through posture, so I guide more than I direct. Then we work slowly, adjusting a hand, a tilt of the head, a breath, until the pose feels true.

Offering experiences like the Golden Ascension Experience and working on projects honoring athletes and Indigenous children, you seem passionate about celebrating humanity through your art—what impacts do you hope your work leaves on participants and viewers alike, and how does this vision guide your future projects?

I hope people feel seen. Under the gold we are all equal, with no status, no label, only a human being. Whether it's a participant standing in gold or a viewer in front of a print, I want them to feel their own dignity and beauty. Golden Heroes carries this into the future: 22 Paralympic athletes in gold ahead of LA 2028, then a world tour, so that how we see each other can change.

Leopard fine art in gold, a close gaze for a room of wood and calm

Large-scale art for Aspen hotels, spas, lodges and businesses

Aspen's hospitality is built on warmth, craft and atmosphere: historic addresses like Hotel Jerome, the ski-in lodges of Aspen Snowmass, boutique hotels, private clubs and spa retreats. A leopard or lion fine art photograph, a diptych for a lounge or a triptych above a stone fireplace, can anchor a room the way a sculpture does. Zack Zublena creates his series and sets in large sizes for hospitality: hotels, spas, clubs, restaurants, lodges and businesses, framed to the scale and finish of each space. To plan a visit or a project, the Aspen Chamber Resort Association and the official Colorado Tourism Office are good places to start.

United Kingdom: more than 120 David Lloyd Clubs

Zack Zublena has already equipped more than 120 David Lloyd Clubs in the United Kingdom, and across Europe, with his fine art photographs, reaching over a million members. It is proof that his leopard art, lion art, diptychs and triptychs live beautifully in the busiest, most demanding spaces: clubs, spas and wellness areas, the same kind of spaces that define a mountain resort. Read the article United Kingdom, David Lloyd Clubs: fine art for the club, and learn more on the David Lloyd Clubs website.

Frequently asked questions

Who is Zack Zublena?
A French-American fine art photographer based in Los Angeles, known for photographing the human body painted in gold since 2016, and for his leopard art and lion art.

Where can I read the interview?
On Singulart, the international online gallery, in the Singulart Magazine interview.

What is the difference between a diptych and a triptych?
A diptych is a set of two artworks hung together; a triptych is a set of three. Zack Zublena's leopard art and lion art is available as single fine art photographs, as a diptych, as a triptych, or as a full series.

Are large sizes available for Aspen hotels, spas, lodges and businesses?
Yes. Large formats and complete sets are available for hospitality and business interiors, framed to the room.

Are the photographs painted or generated by AI?
Neither. They are fine art photographs of real people painted in gold, crafted by hand, never AI.

The leopard woman, a fine art portrait in warm gold tones

Aspen, through the lens of gold →

Crafted by hand, not AI: real people, real gold