Walking around The Other Art Fair, I encountered many talented artists whose work I wanted to explore. Though there was a lot competing for my attention, all those distractions fell away once I spotted Glen Gauthier’s brilliant collages.  These fascinating, funny pieces are created using images from old books and magazines, and paperwork from his late aunt’s insurance office. Bet you didn’t see that last bit coming, did you? I certainly didn’t. Here’s his story in his own words.

“I have a degree in Fine Arts and have been in the advertising and design business for almost thirty years, working as a Creative Director. A few years ago, I decided to finally take fine art seriously… I’ve always been drawn to collage. Having created a few digital pieces for advertising clients, I decided to finally get going with physical collages. Around the same time, my sister let me know that a cousin of mine back in south Louisiana was cleaning out our late aunt’s old insurance office. As a kid, I was fascinated by all of her old paperwork, from ledgers to old receipts and other bits and pieces of paper. So I made a trip to pick up boxes of the materials they were throwing out, which now finds its way into my work.”

As fascinating as they are in photos, these pieces were even more staggeringly impactful in person. I was particularly taken with the incredibly complex War Machine collage, which I had a chance to discuss a bit with the artist. Of course, with collage, you have to build your layers from the back forward, and Glen talked about how stressful it was trying to get it all glued down before someone sneezed or a stray draft came through and ruined all his careful piecing work!

You can see more of Gauthier’s work on his website, on his Saatchi Art profile page, and Instagram and Pinterest.

All images property of Glen Gauthier, used with permission.