There are two ‘kinds’ of photographs within the series, namely images of large coastal outcrops titled ‘Rocks’ and images of wood carvings titled ‘Carvings’.

Amir Zaki is a practicing artist living in Southern California. Formal Matter features images of large coastal outcrops titled ‘Rocks’ and 3D-based images of wood carvings titled ‘Carvings’. The Rock photographs of coastal outcrops are all made along the California coast, ranging from Orange County to Mendocino County.

Zaki’s work is part of numerous public and private collections across the country, including the Whitney Museum of American Art, New Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, UCLA Hammer Museum, the Henry Art Gallery in Seattle, Washington, the Orange County Museum of Art, and the Santa Barbara Museum of Art.