Joseph Staples

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When you compare pictures of people and abstract images, I think people feel a picture that looks like a person easiest to understand. But I can’t think of anything more abstract than people.

Location:

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Professional title:

Visual artist

What do you do?

I have a long term relationship with a few images and groups of images. Some I have been coming back to and reworking for almost 10 years. I work in large collages, usually about 3'x5'. I like the cut line that separates an image from others and the relationship between one photo and another.

Why?

I feel more settled when I am into a project. Writing and making things gives your life a focus outside of the usual feeds and dreary life problems that mostly don't matter. Its a reason to read, to watch things critically and to pay attention.

What should we read?

On Beauty by Byung Chul Han, any of the books are great, but the slimmer the better. Writings by Agnes Martin. In Praise of Shadows by Jun'ichiro Tanazaki. Arranging Things by Leonard Koren. Art of Seduction by Robert Greene. The Courage to Be Disliked by Fumitake Koga. The Road to Character by David Brooks. My new book is Relationships with Images, The Collage of Joseph Staples. Self publishing in November, link to the presale is my bio. Apologies for the gratuitous plug, but its been months of work getting it together and it's top of mind right now.