Spotlight: Eric Saak

"Chaos - where brillant dreams are born. - ancient Chinese proverb. Yet in all it’s randomness there is an order to everything. Creating these images is my exploration of that idea." Such are the words of Eric Saak, an Oklahoma-based artist in the area of digital collage. Ten years before the recent publication of Somerset Digital Studio, Eric was already experimenting with this art medium.

I came across his work on the web and was struck by the energy in all his pieces. As I look at his collages, I see so many elements that speak to me...layers, texture, scratchy lines, text, hidden images, and more. His work has that natural, distressed, grungy feeling that I love. And the composition of his pieces seems intuitively just right to me.

According to Eric, "I am a perfectionist and to have things out of order is uncomfortable for me. I started using the computer as a canvas in 1998 because it was an unexplored medium for creating fine art at the time. I began working on a collection of digital paintings and collages to challenge myself to think outside of my own boundaries."

"I strive to create images that don’t look digital because I don’t like the idea that something created on the computer isn’t made by hand. The creative process is the same except that more traditional tools such as brushes and oils have been replaced by a mouse and a keyboard."

"Each piece I create has some significance to an event or moment in my life. While living in New York I began collecting the images for the series “Space Refined” which relate to experiences and places I visited. It also refers to my perspective of the city and the space it was built on, from one perspective you see it as a whole but as you look closer you can see the many layers that make up the city, much like the many layers in my paintings."

If you are interested in learning more about Eric, seeing additional images, or purchasing his work, he welcomes your email at ozias@aol.com