ANDY HARRIS

I create images of the moments that exist on the sidelines of the everyday. I am drawn to these instances that often fail to grab our attention: construction zones, storefronts, suburban structures, discarded objects. I collect photos of these mundane scenes using my iPhone, often snapped quickly and intuitively on my way to and from work, and construct stories from them. I zoom in, crop, and create composite images from different photographs using my abundant resource of hand-painted papers. In this way, my works combine spontaneous documentary with creative invention. The portrait orientation of these works typically nods to the original photographs they originated from.

In my most recent collages, I am exploring my interest in people, often at work or running errands. By building drama from the everyday experiences of living and surviving in a late capitalist society, I am defamiliarizing the familiar. Using collage, I combine artistic will with chance encounters to create uncanny representations of daily life. There is an anywhereness to them—they could be scenes of life across the US. Unexpected and vigorous texture in both brush strokes and collage work conveys the underground emotion and physicality that lies just beneath the surface.

My collage technique also pulls from my many years of experience working as a wallpaper installer. The hand tools and methods I once used to transform interiors have evolved into an expressive and experimental form of art making and storytelling. By using these blue-collar materials and skills and images of working-class labor to create works of fine art, I emphasize the physicality of both professions, and comment on the ways in which manual labor is often overlooked. The works are imbued with a subtle class consciousness, bringing the tools and eye of the working class into the art world.