In the Big Apple, brief encounters can lead to big things.

While out clubbing, Zachary Marshall bumped into an old art school friend and flashed some photos of his latest work.

Months later, the phone rang. The friend wanted him to show his work at Motel, an art gallery in Brooklyn.

“I never experienced what it was like to network in such a crazy, social world like New York,” he said.

The 23-year-old got a job with British artist Oliver Clegg after he graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design last year.

“I am definitely learning a lot from Oliver Clegg,” he said. “Our work is very different, but I am learning about the politics of the New York art scene.”

The downside of life in a big city is that it’s easy to get discouraged when you are competing with so many other people, he said.

“You just have to keep going. You have to believe in yourself. If you keep a rhythm going and do a good job of advertising yourself, anyone who is charming enough can have at least 15 minutes of a career here.”

He is working with Mr Clegg on a temporary visa and wants to make his stay, in what he describes as “the think-tank of the contemporary arts world”, more permanent.

Once he has established himself with gallery representation, he’d like to come back to Bermuda, maybe.

In the meantime his first solo show opens here on Thursday.

“It is an exhibition of my college work,” he said. “It is going to be held in the Ram Reinsurance Company Ltd building.

“It is a beautiful space with a lot of natural light. The upcoming show will be a melange of work including intaglio printmaking.”

As a bonus, his art has helped him cope with anxiety, Mr Marshall said.

He believes the stress is linked to social networking.

“I am a very anxious individual. Art making helps me understand my irrational fears that come from just living in such an insane time.

“With Instagram and Facebook there is this constant pressure to perform for everyone, and be on all the time,” he said. “I am very interested in how people craft themselves based on that necessity.”

Cartoons inspired him to become an artist.

“As a kid, I wasn’t really interested in much else other than what was on The Cartoon Network,” he said.

“I used to watch a lot of television after school, before my parents [Tim and Georgia Marshall] got home.”

Thunder Cats and Voltron were his favourites, but he later became intrigued by Pokemon.

This led to a fascination with anime and a deeper exploration of Japanese graphic work. From there, he jumped to post impressionist painters like Van Gogh who were also inspired by Japanese aesthetics. He believes a strong artistic strain runs in his family. His grandfather, the late Joseph “Zacky” Marshall was headmaster of Warwick Academy and enjoyed carpentry and oil painting on the side.

“My father, Tim, also had a creative side and painted as a kid.”

Early Years is on display through October 17, from 12.30pm until 7pm.