All Eyes On: Butternut Collage

Jake Kennedy is a collage artist from Hove in the UK. He’s been making collages since about 1993 and has gone on to produce magazine covers, has exhibited, been on TV and also made the odd record sleeve. His work doesn’t have any particular style, but he’s always keen to experiment. This results in a variety of approaches, all of which use solely original source material from his archive and never computer printouts. All the works are hand made and abused with things like knives, sandpaper, power tools, dental equipment and more. His influences are adverts, street art, record covers and certain elements of photography, as well as industrial structures of all types.

Statement

My work has evolved a lot, and I do it every day. I started out way back trying for humorous ideas, but over time it’s sort of decomposed, and I love the degradation of it. I’m never happier than when I’ve just totally obliterated a page from a magazine or book, so that only some is left behind. I don’t know what it says about me, or the wider world, but it’s certainly fun asking the questions. My work is always produced in an analogue medium, using found materials and vintage bits and bobs. I don’t have anything against digital collage, I’m just way happier with a scalpel than a laptop. Recurring elements for me are exploding heads, grey machinery, old adverts and architecture. Which sounds weird when you see it written down like that.