Marcos Guinoza

Do you have any formal background in art or design? What was a starting point for you to get involved with it on a serious level?

I have a journalism degree but I never took art classes. When it comes to art I’m an autodidact. I’ve been working with digital collage for three years. Things happened in a very spontaneous way. At first working with digital collage was a way to express my feelings and then after a while it turned into something more professional.

Working digitally, where do you end up finding most of the images that you collage together? What does this routine typically look like for you?

I appropriate images I find online and then I deconstruct and insert them into a new context. I browse the internet daily looking for new images.

Are all of your pieces done digitally or is there also some form of analog as well?

Sometimes I crop, scan, and use images from magazines in some collages. But most of my work is done only with digital techniques.

Do you tend to have an idea of the final product before putting everything together or is it a slow build of trial and error?

Sometimes I come across a random idea and I work on it for a while. Most of the time, though, my work follows a more intuitive process. I cut and paste images until I get the composition perfect.

Are there any particular themes that you find yourself drawn into creating? What sort of narrative or feeling do you often find yourself portraying in your different images?

I am focused mainly on human beings and their deepest feelings, such as their melancholies, seclusions, neuroses, sorrows, desires and anxieties.

What is it about collage specifically that you are attracted to?

I don’t have a gift for drawing or painting by hand. Therefore, working with collage was the answer I found to express myself. I enjoy the idea of moving images into different contexts. It creates a new “reality”.

How do you feel that living and working in Brazil has inspired your work and lead you into the direction that you are now?

Brazil does not inspire, it only disappoints me. I like to think my art is universal. After all, despite different nationalities and cultures, we are all still human, sharing the same feelings and emotions regardless where we come from.

How do you find you approach commissioned work versus when you are doing something straight from your mind?

Working on demand means that my freedom is more limited. In my personal work, though, the only person I need to please is myself.

Are there any particular ideas that you are most proud of compiling together?

I never imagined I would be recognized as an artist. I am proud of that.

Where are you hoping to see some of your work in the future?

I’d like to see my work in people’s houses.