“Paper maps are essential to portrait artist Ed Fairburn, who uses them as the canvas for his detailed work. His thoughtful integration of human portrait and topography make it appear as though the two have always belonged together” (PBS)
Ed Fairburn (b. 1989) is a contemporary British artist based in Southampton, UK. His unique exploration of combining people and place has gained widespread recognition, earning him a sizeable audience both on and offline.
He has worked on numerous high profile commissions in a range of commercial settings, including Grammy award winning album art for John Lennon, movie poster and box set art for the John Wick franchise, book covers for Penguin and more. Several of his commercial projects have won Clio Awards from bronze to gold.
Appearing in galleries and exhibitions around the world, his own self-initiated works – both originals and limited edition prints – have become highly sought after and are regularly acquired by private collectors.
Since 2012, Ed’s work has been featured in various international publications, from books and blogs to newspapers, television and radio.
“I describe my process as “topopointillism” – a direct combination of topography and pointillism. My work stems from my two biggest interests – collecting old paper maps, and drawing portraits.
Using traditional materials such as ink, paint and pencil, I make gradual changes to the contours, roads and other patterns found in cartography. These changes allow me to tease out the human form, resulting in a comfortable coexistence of figure and landscape.
I aim to preserve the functionality of each map by feeding the composition instead of fighting it – I often spend hours studying the terrain before I begin any physical processes.
I’m interested in the degree of subtlety behind each synchronisation, and the way in which a completed map behaves more like a portrait when viewed from further away – it’s almost paradoxical that a portrait should lose detail when examined closely.“
