Puppet Master by Ernesto Beckford

Ernesto Beckford
Puppet Master
2023     10" x 7"

Double Matted Size: 12" x 9" 

Mixed Media Collage (paper on paper, watercolor, pastels)

About Ernesto

I work in collage because it welcomes fragments and mystery. I cut, layer, and reassemble found imagery into compositions that flirt with beauty, but always with a layer of mystery. Figures may emerge, then blur. The images I use might suggest one meaning at first, but take on a different meaning when seen in context. I bring together old images, pieces of the human figure, and everyday ephemera to create scenes that feel familiar but subtly disoriented, inviting viewers to look again. I’m less interested in fixed realism than in the way truth is often unstable, emotional, layered, and interrupted. Collage lets me inhabit that uncertain space. I build by instinct rather than formula, letting relationships between textures, lines, and gestures guide the image. The process is painterly, intuitive, and deeply personal.