All images by Trey Wright
Trey Wright is an artist and photographer based in Dallas and working in the United States. He did a degree in photography at the University of North Texas. His work makes use of a collage approach, featuring images culled from magazines, the Internet and his own photographs.
His work has been featured in publications such as Bullett Magazine or The Times Luxx and will be featured in DASH Magazine’s upcoming SS13 issue.
Could you tell me more about yourself and your work at the moment? What do you do? What are you interests?
Currently, I am an artist/photographer based in Dallas. I am finishing up a couple design classes and trying to figure out where my next adventure will lead. Right now, I work a couple odd jobs and freelance. I feel very fortunate to be where I am now; this time last year I was in a real rut, I had just started making work again in earnest, and with the encouragement of friends I began to circulate the work both online and around the Dallas area. This past fall, I started getting requests to do editorial illustrations for different publications and it has taken off from there. So, to go from not working creatively at all to having people seek me out for my work has been exciting, challenging and very encouraging. I do primarily label myself as an artist / creative, but many of my interests are based in pop culture / fashion, the way we communicate, the Internet. So my work lends itself very well to fashion illustration and project-based work.
You often collect images from the Internet, magazines etc. Could you please describe this process and how you find inspiration?
I often find inspiration within magazines and the Internet. Usually, I’m drawn to images that lend themselves to whatever project I am working on, so it will vary. I do have a tendency to pick things that are going to be very graphic or colourful. I want people to look at the images and I want to replicate that desire aspect in many of the images I collect.
Your work reminds me of 1960s advertising – is this one of your inspirations? If not, what is your main inspiration?
I do find a lot of inspiration in ’60s advertisements. Some of my odd jobs are design or art direction based, so I think that type of imagery is always something that is circulating around in my world and not necessarily 1960s images. Living in Texas, I think there is a kind of campy sensibility instilled in everyone, and by that I mean over-the-top hair, big diamonds and over dramatic responses to everything. I think that has rubbed off in the work.
Also, looking at your work, I find it quite surreal – do you want to say something with this?
I think that I’m trying to achieve a different way of looking at things with photography and I’m not usually interested in reality. I’m more interested in cultivating the kind of fantastical images you find in advertisements.
What kind of images can we expect to see from you in the upcoming SS13 issue of DASH Magazine?
In the next issue of DASH, I’m again utilising the same take on imagery to create something that is minimal and has a surreal edge.
ZR
