Scrolling through Alex Eckman-Lawn’s collages is the equivalent of visiting a parallel universe. Multi-layered, with each layer spaced, they act as a sort of portal that draws you inside. The result isn’t necessarily pleasant, but it’s always intriguing.
“I do feel very lucky that I get to make art for a living,” remarked Eckman-Lawn in an interview with Beautiful Bizarre, “and on days where it feels hard, I like to remind myself how much I’d rather do this than anything else.” His work, meticulous in its very nature, is composed of original digital paintings, imagery from old medical texts, and other vintage ephemera.
“Sometimes I have a clear idea in my head,” explained Eckman-Lawn, relaying the creative process that goes on behind the scenes, “and then it’s just a matter of finding the right images or painting what I need until it looks right. That can be really painstaking but occasionally it all just comes together cleanly.”
With his process also based on intuition (arranging and then rearranging the images), Eckman-Lawn admits he sometimes finds himself driven to work. “Sometimes I have to drop whatever I’m doing and start working right away if I find something too perfect to ignore,” he says. “That feeling is just the best, and a good way to describe the act of collage in general. It’s like being a curator and a designer and an artist all at once.”
Below you’ll find a selection of his work:
