“ZSA ZSA”

2017

Dimensions:

54” X 80”

Medium: Axalta Cromax AT on Aluminum

Artist: Peter Maier

With “ZSA ZSA,” Peter Maier transforms a common barnyard bird into a baroque icon of unapologetic glamour.

Rendered with his signature automotive layering technique—originally developed for Ferrari and Porsche finishes—Maier uses industrial-grade Axalta paints on aluminum to achieve an uncanny depth and glow. The result? Not a painting of a chicken, but a portrait of presence.

The title evokes old Hollywood elegance, and the subject lives up to it: a Polish crested hen, captured mid-turn, flaunting a crown of feathers like couture headwear. Her glossy eye and pearlescent plumage shimmer with photographic realism, yet the composition feels stylized, cinematic—a still from a dream in hi-def.

In Maier’s hands, light becomes flesh. Every translucent layer of paint bends reflection and refraction to elevate the ordinary to the iconic.

This isn’t about chickens.
It’s about attitude. Identity. Beauty in full strut.