Beyond Recognition is an ongoing series exploring how a single image can be transformed through different systems of cutting and reorganization. Each work begins with a carefully selected image from my collection of mid-century books, magazines, and portraiture. Using a variety of grid-based patterns and processes developed through more than a decade of hand-cut collage practice, the image is divided and reordered, sometimes through multiple iterations until the original subject slips just out of reach.
The series exists as both physical and digital work, connected through GridLab, a custom app I developed to translate four of my cutting processes into code. The app allows me to experiment with and refine compositions before cutting irreplaceable source material by hand, while also functioning as a tool for creating finished digital works. In every transformation, the entire source image remains present, nothing is removed, only reorganized leaving behind fragments, rhythms, and a faint trace of something familiar.
Physical Work: One-of-a-kind collages cut and assembled by hand from original vintage material. Available directly from the artist and through Lustre Contemporary.
The Beyond Recognition digital works begin with curated images scanned from my extensive archive of vintage books, magazines, and portraiture. Using GridLab, an app I developed with the help of AI, I extend my hand-cutting practice into software, creating finished works that exist natively in digital form. The app also allows me to experiment with potential patterns to test cuts of materials that are vintage and rare.
Prints available on demand.
Digital copies available to collect through Manifold Gallery
