George

Sydney

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George Sydney

George Sydney works with what the twentieth century left behind. He cuts, sorts, and sequences printed matter until magic appears. Cropping sets the structure. Layering carries feeling. Titles extend the idea, shifting how an image reads. He builds a system, then tests its edges, letting chance interrupt. The result is a space where context keeps shifting the meaning of each fragment.

In the Words of the Artist

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I make collages from images and ephemera I collect. The process starts with a lot of digging in used book shops—my favourite is one here in Copenhagen, where for some reason the owner smokes inside—it’s a great place to find well-seasoned books.

My work combines fragments from different times and places, exploring how conflicting or complementary elements work together. I focus on simple techniques like cropping, sequencing, and layering to transform the meaning of these fragments and create narrative environments. Titles are also important to me. I approach these as collages too, severing words or phrases from the same source material and repurposing them into the work.

I believe the tension between chaos and control is a big part of what defines us both personally and on a societal level. I explore this in myself when figuring out the balance between gestural and precise techniques or juxtaposing expressive images and untamed nature with geometry and visual systems. Across my work, you will see I develop visual systems and then try to break them.

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My process is responsive. I browse through my stacks of material until something catches my attention. It could be something I’ve overlooked for years, or a new find I can’t wait to work with. Often, I work against what’s there: tearing something beautiful or structuring something chaotic. Sometimes I know what I want, and the challenge is to find something specific, like a particular colour, texture, subject, or setting.

Collage is my way of participating in cultural history through conversation with the objects and ideas of others. It’s the process of paying close attention and reacting; deciding what to emphasize or subvert, what to agree with or push against.

It allows me to experiment with meaning; putting things in a new context changes the narrative. Most creativity and culture involve combining and reworking existing ideas, but with collage the process is at its most direct.

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I’m drawn to the materiality of books and magazines from the 20th century. The visual culture of this period is recent enough to resonate with contemporary themes, but old enough to have begun to shift meaning, whether through physical patina or the societal effects of time. This ambiguity makes things more symbolic than literal: an explosion, a dancer, or an obscure piece of technology can evoke feelings of conflict, self-expression, or progress, rather than simply represent what or who they are.

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About the Artist

George Sydney is an artist and designer from London, living and working in Copenhagen. His collages explore time, place and narrative, using vintage images and ephemera. His techniques are informed by photography, graphic design and cinema, resulting in an aesthetic characterised by cropping, sequencing and layering.

His work was recognised in two categories at the Contemporary Collage Magazine Awards 2024 and has featured on record sleeves by Marika Hackman and Hideyuki Hashimoto among others.

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