![]() All these worthless items have been incorporated into something that someone may now appreciate, and the potential of this scrap item can now be realized. The shiny metal brings out a highlight on the forehead. The rusted tin can becomes a tone in the face. The scrap metal has worth because of what I did with it, not because I say it is of worth. By turning debris and seemingly useless materials into works of significance, he hopes to prompt questions about the arbitrary values assigned to objects and people alike, explaining: In a conversation with Colossal, Small references Marcel Duchamp’s urinal and the way that readymade sculpture upended long-standing notions of worth as a foundational concept he draws on his own practice. It’s just up to us to see that.”ĭetail of “Jake” (2020), assembled metal on wooden board, 35.5 x 35.5 inches “Marrying the discarded item and painting a portrait of a young person on it or utilizing the material to construct a mosaic face, I hope that the viewer sees that everybody and everything has a right to be viewed as valuable and of worth. “Because of the social backgrounds they come from, young people find themselves overlooked, disregarded, and left uninvested in,” the artist says. Small uses his art to highlight each person’s importance and value to society and how they should be appreciated and treated accordingly.All images © Matt Small, shared with permissionĪt the heart of Matt Small’s practice is the idea that “there’s always potential within everything.” The British artist gravitates toward an overarching theme of disregard in both subject matter and material, choosing oxidized hunks of iron, bits of patinaed copper, and crinkled aluminum strips that have been relegated to the trash to construct his metallic portraits.Įxpressive and emotionally charged, the corroded mosaics link rampant overconsumption and widespread tendencies to throw away what’s deemed obsolete or undesirable to the ways adolescents are marginalized and subsequently not seen as viable members of society. Each piece features subjects who are often forgotten or marginalized by society, much like the scrap metal pieces that comprise the image. British artist Matt Small crafts intricate mosaic portraits from pieces of scrap metal. For more from the artist, you can visit his website and follow him on Instagram. Scroll down to see some of Matt Small’s incredible scrap metal mosaic portraits. We can give them the belief that they are truly precious to the world.” We don’t want any of our young people ending up on the scrap heap of life. “I feel like these mosaics make a statement on how we should see our young people,” Small explains, “that if we see their inherent value, if we harness their potential, if we invest in them, then they will have a greater desire to contribute to society in a meaningful way. The metal scraps are then stuck to his plywood canvas with a silicone-based glue, fitting together in intricate patterns like an exquisite puzzle, far removed from their dismal forgotten origins. He then gathers pieces of metal from his collection to match those tonal values-ranging from dusty gray, to white, to pieces browned with a rusty patina. Starting from a sketch rendered on thin plywood, Small assesses the light, mid, and dark tones of the image. ![]() For me it made sense to utilize a material that had been deemed useless and unable to contribute anymore and then marrying that object with someone who was possibly seen in the same way by society.”Įach portrait is a labor of love, with the entire process of completing one piece often taking several months. I began painting my subjects on discarded items I found on the street. “My desire is to celebrate and shine a light on them in a positive way, to see them as beautiful and deserving to be featured. ![]() “I’ve always felt the need to document the people that live in my area, the individuals that are rarely featured in portraiture, the unseen, undervalued in society,” Small tells My Modern Met. ![]()
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