I learned to think visually at an early age. Growing up in the house designed by my father, surrounded by my mother’s paintings and brother’s car designs, making art was pretty normal.

An early fascination with printing, paper ephemera and combinations of text and imagery led to my collage style. I love mixing things from a variety of sources: photos, found images, type, paints and papers. Collage allows me to take an artifact from my world and turn it into art.

Making art, for me, is a way of understanding something better. A career in graphics taught me to search for the fundamental elements when designing a logo or illustrating a story. In my paintings, I reduce the subject to an icon – representing its essential form – and in the process, get to know it more fully. My appreciation of the subject is evident in the artwork and hopefully stimulates an awareness in those who see it.

I hope you enjoy my work. Making art is both a gift and a compulsion, and once it’s completed, its main value is in connecting with others.

— Alan Mazzetti