José's work is (I think unintentionally) another look at collage portraiture. It looks like his pieces begin with a picture of a person, and stem out creatively from there. The final result is a complex composition with loads of character. I apologize for that alliteration.

José Ignacio Fernández (For Better Days)
www.forbetterdays.com.ar & www.flickr.com/photos/forbetterdays
Buenos Aires, Argentina

Describe your work in 10 words or less.

Collage Or Die

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

I enjoy taking images and adding to them different and new elements. In a way, to rebirth something different to represent that image.

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

I started in 2004 making digital collages in University while I was studying Graphic Design. After that I started making handmade collage by myself as a way of expression.

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

I am a graphic designer working in an advertising agency. Nowadays, I do not live by making art collages.

Do you have any formal art training?

I have not have any artistic study. It's so good that you do not need to have studied art to make a collage.

Explain your favourite techniques.

I like cutting different elements from magazines and sticking them together by hand, I prefer this technique over others to do my work. Although I like to use a photocopy transfer technique, some tea to dye papers, and sometimes I use transferring letters.

Describe your favourite piece ever created.

The book of life: It is a book full of collages that I am filling as the time runs, as a personal diary made by collage. Until now, I have not finished and I think It will take me too many years because there are so many pages.

What other artists do you admire?

Alexander Ródchenko, Eduardo Recife, David Carson, Seniorita Polyester, Molokid, RodrigBoy.

Thanks José!