American artist Chyrum Lambert’s works are beautifully executed collages. All elements in his compositions have been cut with a blade, reformed and shaped into the resulting pieces.

His use of positive and negative space with carefully placed pieces ‘fill’ canvases, creating space and form.

Lambert has had solo exhibitions on both sides of the States, in both California and New York.

In his own words

Could you please introduce yourself and tell us a bit about your background and how you became an artist.

My name is Chyrum, I work primarily on paper with a variety of applications. I am a relatively solitary person so spending most of my time in a room alone problem solving an image is very enjoyable and always has been.

Studio shot

What influences have driven your work and why?

I am a big reader, particularly of poetry, and feel that the essence of how poetry is attempting to communicate a feeling rather than an explanation is an important idea to me. I see it in painting as well but it is rarely as successful. That’s a big push for myself, to reach that kind of effect. R.B. Kitaj, Max Beckmann, Henry Taylor, Luc Tuymans, Magnus von Plesson and Matthew Palladino all do this really well.

What elements do you find most challenging in your work?

It can be a challenge finding all the time I need for all I want to accomplish, the more you work, the more your ideas grow and grow! Everything else is easy.

What do you try to express in your work?

A simple outpouring of human feeling.

Looks Good, Wears Well,
Hope It Lasts 
2014
40 x 26 inches
ink wash, pencil, acrylic paint, rit dye, hand painted, cut, and adhered onto an 80 lb cover sheet

Which direction would you like to take with your work in the future?

I am starting to work on a larger scale and I would like to break out of the rectangle format.

Chyrum Lambert (pronounced chai-ruhm), born in 1980, currently lives and works in Los Angeles, California. He encourages you to write or call him.

All images courtesy of Chyrum Lambert | www.chyrumlambert.com