323_Africa (2026)Collage by Manel Villalonga

The work features a collage style with mixed media, incorporating elements of graphic design and contemporary portraiture. Its overall aesthetic is bold and textured. The use of halftone dots to represent the silhouette evokes influences from pop art or graphic novel aesthetics, but is applied with a painterly and textured approach rather than a clean, digital finish.

The portrait itself is rendered with stark graphic contrast using halftone dots, creating a sense of depth and form within a limited tonal range. The vibrant orange circles and yellow garment are applied with a more painterly and textured quality, appearing as distinct, almost collage-like elements.

The use of colour is striking, dominated by a high-contrast palette of black, white and vibrant orange, with a significant presence of yellow in the subject's clothing. Orange is used to emphasise the subject's earrings and the circular motifs on her garment, creating focal points and adding dynamic energy to the composition.
The composition is a profile portrait, with the subject's head and shoulders occupying a significant part of the frame. The use of negative space in the white background, together with scattered graphic elements such as the asterisk and the letter “A”, balances the dense representation of the portrait and her patterned garment. The composition is dynamic and contemporary, drawing the viewer's gaze towards the subject's gaze.

Materials used:

paper cutouts, acrylic and transfer

Details:

• Collage on Panel / Board / MDF
• One of a kind artwork
• Size: 40 x 40 x 0.3cm (unframed) / 40 x 40cm (actual image size)
• Signed on the back
• Style: Urban and Pop
• Subject: People and portraits

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