Hand-painted typography portraits painted over a collage of paper memorabilia.

“For this style of portraiture I was thinking about how after we die our physical bodies leave but our words remain in the minds of those we interacted with. I was trying to create this idea, that our words replace or perhaps transcend our physical form and allow us to still be seen and experienced after we’re gone.

I begin these paintings by gluing old newspaper articles and other paper memorabilia onto a canvas. I then stain the paper background with acrylic paint. To create the face I begin painting directly on top of the collaged background. I paint the lettering working my way from shadows to highlights until the face emerges. Once the painting is dry I cover the entire canvas in epoxy resin to permanently encase the collage and painting under a hard glassy surface.”

Cris Wicks: instagram