Name: Jens Wortmann
Born in 1979, based in Aachen, Germany
Making art since: I created my first collages as a kid in art class at school – I was 14 or 15 years old. For almost 30 years now, the art of collage has been a captivating form of expression for me, allowing me to combine various materials and techniques, creating new expressive and emotional artworks.
Something you’d like our readers know about you: I’m an absolute music junkie with a massive vinyl collection! Music serves as my creative engine, even when creating new collages. There’s a good album behind every collage that I listened to while working on that piece.
What are three tools/elements you can’t work without? A good pair of scissors, glue, and a stack of old magazines – that’s all I need.
What do you think is the most important thing that defines your work as yours? To rethink the representation of the human body fascinates me. Many of my collages focus on how the face and body are constructed. For me, the human face is something like the basis of my collage and the eye-catcher of each work.
Can you describe your work process? In most cases, I start a new piece without the slightest idea of what I want to portray. I begin by browsing through vintage magazines, searching for a key element for my collage—often a face or a body part. Once I find this key element, I start incorporating additional elements. This spontaneous creation is what I enjoy the most, and it usually works well for me!
Which is the latest project/series/artwork that you had been working on? My latest project was a collaboration with photographer Neave Bozorgi, whose work I really like. In the series “Neave Bozorgi X Jens Wortmann” I worked almost exclusively with Neave’s wonderful Fashion photographs, creating some collages in a more minimalistic Style and mostly in black/white.
Which artists would you recommend us to check out? It’s not easy: There are so many wonderful artists whose work I love. Regarding paper collages, I really like the works of Guillaume Pelloux. When it comes to painting, I love the works of Stacey Rozich, and being a big comic fan, I’m amazed by the fantastic illustrations of Simon Bailly.
What is your personal definition of collage? For me, collage always involves three phases: Deconstruction, Transformation, and then finally Rebirth – a process that has always fascinated me.
Learn more about Jens on his Instagram
