Held by Mark Watkins
In response to periods of enforced lockdown due to COVID-19, ‘Held’ is a mini series of six analog collages reflecting on small moments of human contact. Contact through touch can be deliberate or spontaneous, often happening in moments of affection, consolation or support.
Mark Watkins is a collage artist based in Staffordshire, United Kingdom.
Mark’s analog collage explores the minutiae of human existence inspired by the absurd, disturbing, humorous or beautiful worlds in which we dream. Ideas and themes are realised through the juxtaposition and layering of vintage imagery, papers, colours and text. These are reconstructed, reflecting on how memories can recede, become lost or randomly re-surface. Searching for an aesthetic quality within items that have either been discarded or overlooked, the process of making the work is a combination of deliberate, carefully constructed composition and intuitive actions in terms of cutting, tearing and editing, along with the happy accidents that the medium of collage constantly presents.
Mark’s work has exhibited in London, Edinburgh, Nottingham, Derby, Castle Donington, Stirling and Columbia. His work has been published in {th ink} objectextion, Rapsodia Magazine, Defaced issue 2 and Edinburgh Collage Collective’s ‘Cut & Post’, a Limited Edition Postcard Set.
Instagram: @markwatkins64