‘Compulsion’, A Short Film About the Wonderfully Imaginative Mosaic Art of Kevin Champeny

In “Compulsion”, the latest installment of his “Making Art” series, filmmaker Jesse Brass focused his camera on artist and sculptor Kevin Champeny, whose imaginative mosaics embody a plethora of quirky materials such as gummy bears, Hot Wheels cars, tiny animals, hand cast fish, toy soldiers and other fascinating media. In an interview with wall hop, Champeny spoke about the way he uses different materials.

They differ for me in a variety of ways. Firstly, by medium. What I mean is, I approach each project with the same intensity as any other. The medium helps dictate the direction of the particular project and I tend to just roll with the punches as they arrive. Secondly, I have a tendency to work on “projects”. …I love stuff. I’m a very organized hoarder and keep literally hundreds of thousands of parts for my work because they also serve as inspiration for new ideas. I have labeled bins full of just about everything imaginable, from old puzzle pieces to rocks, copper, toys, candy and more. Sometimes an idea sparks the desire to use a particular material, other times the materials shape the final piece.

images via Kevin Champeny