16″x20″; found paper on board; 2021. Courtesy of the artist.
FROM KOLAJ 32
Craig Upson’s Artist Portfolio
Craig Upson renders a portrait of the great British polymath and philosopher Bertrand Russell in patterns as complex as the man himself. First, Upson composes an image in black-and-white that draws on historical sources and his own hand-drawn embellishments. “I break this new composition into value regions—and create a map that will guide the collage assembly process,” wrote the artist. Each fragment becomes a texture.
A portfolio of Craig Upson’s work appears in Kolaj 32. To see the complete Artist Portfolio, SUBSCRIBE to Kolaj Magazine or Get a Copy of the Issue.
11″x8″; found paper on board; 2020. Courtesy of the artist.
“My current interest is textile imagery—as this adds a lot of texture and dilutes any single element’s visual weight. There is no ‘anchor’ element in my collages, as I tend to stay away from images that are too full of themselves—that are recognizable or are too visually or conceptually loaded.”
A portfolio of Craig Upson’s work appears in Kolaj 32. To see the complete Artist Portfolio, SUBSCRIBE to Kolaj Magazine or Get a Copy of the Issue.
Craig Upson is a self-taught artist living in Berkeley, California. He works in sculpture, painting and collage: all with a figurative focus. With an academic background in the sciences, his artwork combines both digital and analog work: sometimes both within a single piece. His work has been shown at The Cornell Museum of Art in Ithaca, New York; The Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, DC; New England Fire and History Museum in Brewster, Massachusetts; and Gallery 323 West in New York City, among others. Learn more at the Kolaj Magazine Artist Directory and on Instagram @craigupson.