Artist Leaves A Trace

The silhouettes themselves seem to shimmer against their shifting backgrounds, as if everything is in motion. In the image to the left, two figures are running while another seems to be turning toward them. In the image to the right, a crowd of figures stands together while another stands alone. Both images seem like stills in a film — but what stories do they tell? Are the figures on the left running toward or away from the other figure? Are they friends or a threat? And on the right, is the man standing alone because he’s a leader or an exile? Or something else altogether?

The images in ​“Shadows” — running now at City Gallery on Upper State Street through Nov. 24 — are all by artist Michael Zack, who has been working on the motif of silhouettes for quite some time. Past works of his, however, were more monochrome in tone, bringing to mind questions about crowds and anonymity. With their more kinetic textures, Zack’s latest iterations of the theme suggest more complicated narratives.

“I have become increasingly interested in the relationships and interaction of figures and how they can be expressed in form and color in prints,” Zack writes in an accompanying statement. ​“Shorn of distinguishing facial features and clothing detail, they become anyone and everyone, yet they are uniquely individual and somewhat mysterious. The figures are selected because of the gestural qualities and their ability to relate to each other and the space in which they are placed.”

“They are frequently, but not always based on people I know and have had the opportunity to observe as they go about their daily lives. Taken out of their contexts and rearranged into a panorama that has a narrative all its own, one that is especially meaningful to me on a personal level and one that I invite the viewer to interpret … in his or her own way.”

Zack’s invitation turns his works into playgrounds for stories. What, for example, is the relationship between the man and the figures to the left of him in the image above? Perhaps they’re listening to him; maybe they’re plotting a crime. Or maybe they’re volunteers preparing to canvass a neighborhood to vote. Or maybe the single figure and the group don’t even know each other; the group is having a conversation, and the single man is eavesdropping.

And what to make of this shadowy figure? Here the relationship isn’t between the man and other people, but between the man and his environment. Perhaps he’s manipulating it, almost through magic. Perhaps it’s enveloping him.

Once in the mindset of how Zack’s images operate, some take on added poignancy as the figures interact with each other and, it appears the air around them. The atmosphere can be interpreted as taking on a sense of menace — maybe even danger. Maybe the background is a widening explosion, and the people nearby are either running for their lives or caught in the flames. But maybe the pieces are more metaphorical. Maybe this piece is just about the people we meet who are fading into the shadows of memory. They’re just asking us not to forget them.

“Shadows” runs at City Gallery, 994 State St., through Nov. 24. Visit the gallery’s website for hours and more information.