Russ Smith

A self-taught artist, Russ scours charity bins and second-hand bookshops for the old, the weird and the unwanted before meticulously creating his unique collages by hand.

He is influenced by an eclectic mix of interests: comics, martial arts, philosophy and symbology, conspiracy theories, science-fiction, 90's hip-hop, and a couple of years spent living in Japan.

His work playfully focuses on the concerns and conceits of the human condition, mixing self-reflection and the absurd.

Russ sees the different elements of the collage coming together in the same way that our dreams take haphazard feelings, memories and thoughts to create something new but familiar. The pieces are usually built up around a single image or idea, but just like a dream, may take abrupt and surreal turns in the course of their creation.