Nick Gentry Transforms Old Film and Disks into Captivating Portraits

Artist <a href="http://www.nickgentry.com">Nick Gentry</a> transforms the remnants of yesterday’s technology into canvases for his <a href="http://inhabitat.com/brooklyn-artist-ted-lawson-prints-self-portrait-with-his-own-blood/" target="_blank">gorgeous portraits</a>. The London artist has repurposed <a href="http://inhabitat.com/diy-vibrant-curtains-upcycled-from-old-film-slides/" target="_blank">35 mm film negatives</a>, floppy disks and X-rays into beautiful backdrops for his paintings. With haunting faces painted on the conglomerations, Gentry’s work has an eerie feel that is amplified by the familiar materials he uses.

With the age of technology advancing faster than we can keep up with, we are left <a href="http://inhabitat.com/massive-closet-recycled-from-918-analog-cassette-tapes/" target="_blank">obsolete media</a>.

Film cameras have been replaced with digital capture and USB drives render floppy disks useless.

As an artist, Gentry finds beauty in these forgotten remnants, like the rolls of exposed 35 mm film he finds in abundance in thrift stores and secondhand sales, or receives from donors.

His effort to give new life to the media which is now obsolete has created inspiration for a beautiful body of work that is given greater depth than if simply painted on canvas.

Gentry paints many of portraits with a direct gaze, which almost summons to viewer to look deeper into the work. With this connection between artwork and viewer, Gentry also creates a relationship between the viewer and his medium. When viewers become aware of the artist’s reuse of cast off objects, Gentry creates a dialogue that confronts consumer culture, making the viewer <a href="http://inhabitat.com/freegle-brighton-announces-plans-to-build-community-center-made-entirely-of-local-waste/" target="_blank">contemplate the trash created</a> by the advancement of technology.

Aside from recycling materials that would otherwise be bound for the landfill, Gentry’s work are beautifully painted, and have received critical acclaim around the world.