I can see many of Jesse's influences in his own work, which is digital collages done in a surrealist vintage style. His collages are at the same time dark and colourful, clean and gritty, feminine and masculine (I see an excellent balance in his work)!

Jesse Lenz
www.jesselenz.com
Grew up mostly in WV. I now live in Frederick MD.

Describe your work in 10 words or less.

Retro-Futuristic.

What do you like to work with (magazines, photographs, vintage)? Be specific!

I love working with 30-70s magazines like Life, National Geographic, Better Homes and Gardens, etc.

How long have you been creating collages and what made you start?

I have always messed with them. My art has usually been some sort of reaction to imagery/events that happen so I naturally ended up in collage. I started doing digital collage really seriously in January when I decided I wanted to be an illustrator. I would make an illustration for Dictionary.com's word of the day every day. That series is called "Ocular Verbum".

I started because I never understood why I should waste my time drawing/painting people and houses etc when I could make something way cooler by finding them already made and arranging them differently. It just made sense to me. I can paint and draw very well, but it takes me WAY TOO LONG!

Are you solely an artist, or do you work in another profession?

I am a full-time illustrator. I have been very blessed with great contacts and plenty of work since graduating collage.

Do you have any formal art training?

I have a BS in Graphic Design from West Liberty University. I have a large fine art background so I never liked graphic design much so thats why I decided to illustrate.

Explain your favourite techniques.

I love sitting down with an assignment in mind, but know thoughts on how to solve it, and just start flipping through pages of magazines and seeing what the pages say to me. The best collages happen when the images you are looking tell you how to put them together.

Describe your favourite piece ever created.

I would have to say that one of my favorite pieces is Phantasmagoria. The word means a shifting series or succession of things seen or imagined, as in a dream. The image just feels like a weird dream to me. It's kinda trippy.

What other artists do you admire?

PETER BEARD!!! Richard Hamilton, Hannah Hoch, Mario Wagner, John Ritter because he has mentored me in illustration, and of course if you have a flickr account you will eventually be inspired by guys like Mark Weaver and Julien Pacaud.

Thanks Jesse!