Ashkan Hanovar sees the beauty in the grittier, more macabre, and in some ways more realistic, elements in life. His collages juxtapose the horrific and the gorgeous in organic outcrops that flow effortlessly between one another.
The first and third examples here are from a series called ‘Krokodil’, depicting the physical and mental effects of the tissue damaging drug that is spreading out from Russia, Desomorphine. The images, which are at first glance are almost luxurious in their tones, beg more consideration when you understand what they are about— a recreational drug that can leave its users scaly-skinned amputees with a life expectancy of two to three years.
“I always use original material from old books. Before starting, I always cut up the whole book and sort them around me. After this, the collage making starts.”
“It’s possible that at the end I don’t use all of the images. I never use the leftovers images for any other project. So, each project looks different. All my collages are handmade.”
© Ashkan Honarvar, 2012
