Harriet
Zabusky-Zand attributes her lifelong love of color and interest in
drawing and painting to the early influence of her parents. Her father,
a talented painter and sculptor, and her mother, a craftswoman, set an
excellent example of creativity and involvement in social and civic
concerns. "My art education began when, as a child, I accompanied
my father on weekly sketching trips around beautiful colonial Savannah
and neighboring fishing villages."
She continued to study art through high school,
and then went on to complete a B. A. in English Literature and Art
History at Boston University. While in graduate school for a Philosophy
degree, she first encountered Buddhism, which would later become her
spiritual path and an important influence on her art. Active involvement
in both the peace movement and the women’s movement helped to develop
her compassion for oppressed people around the world. This is evident in
her portraits and paintings of people from developing nations.
After a stint abroad weaving tapestries and
rugs, Harriet returned to the Boston area and received a Diploma of Fine
Arts from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts and a Master of Fine
Arts from Mass College of Art. Abstract Expressionism was a major
influence on the work she produced during this time. The sense of
infinite space, luminous, sensuous color and allusions to landscape
allowed for the expression of her Buddhist ideas and visions.
Harriet Zabusky-Zand’s work has been
exhibited widely and has been included in the Gilette Corporation
collection, the Sonesta Sonnebend collection and many other corporate
and private collections in the U.S. and England.