Join us for First Friday in RiNo, featuring Dillon Scott Cook & Marisabel Lavastida
Lost & Found
2632 Blake Street
12.2.2022, 6-9pm
Meet Dillon Scott Cook & Marisabel Lavastida
Dillon is a collage artist working strictly in the analogue medium. He uses old books, magazines, scissors and glue to tell a story or make a statement with his work. Another part of the work is finding and sourcing interesting material, usually from thrift stores where he happens to frequent often. It’s all a combination of vision, curation and chance that come together in a way unique to the artist. He often tends to dabble in macabre, as well as, strange and unsettling subject matter. Other themes that seem to surface are microbiology and archaeological study.
Marisabel Lavastida’s collage art, deals with themes of death and rebirth both in subject matter and process. The strong depictions of a crumbling society and the reality of the manipulated images shown, are meant to cause discomfort while still easing the tension with humorous, clever compositions that give rise to new forms.
Lavastida’s re-purposing of encyclopedias, originally meant for sources of knowledge and now deemed outdated, is symbolic of her generation repurposing inherited systems to fit a more inclusive world view. Her work is a string of cathartic interlacing images that transfer instances of bleak absurdity over to a layered format where it can invite others to both mourn and hold out for hope.
Learn more about Dillon + Marisabel in our Q+A!
What are you working on right now?
Dillon: Right now I am working on producing work from my favorite images that I’ve amassed over the last few years. It can be intimidating to finally lock into place an image that I know will make a great work because I want the whole piece to do it justice!
Marisabel: I am working on larger mixed media pieces that incorporate painting and collage. Since I am new to Colorado, I am slowly finding community and hope to do more collaborations moving forward. I have done a cover for a single and an image for a healing retreat.
What do you like to do outside of work?
Dillon: Outside of work I love to thrift for treasures. I consider myself an environmentalist in ideology and recycling makes me happy. I also love to ride my vintage Trek bicycle.
Marisabel: Aside from making art, I also do Tarot reading throughout different shops and markets in Denver. Slowly, I am learning that I do not have to monetize all my hobbies, so I have been working on infusing joy into my life without internalizing capitalism. I like to dance, watch cartoons, and stand up comedy.
Who/What are your biggest influences?
Dillon: My biggest influence for collage is the work of Winston Smith, best known for his collage artwork done in collaboration with punk band Dead Kennedys. Since I first saw his work as a pre-teen, I appreciated his disturbing, absurdist imagery that seemed to criticize consumerism, modern war and the “American Dream.”
Marisabel: As far as art movements, I am influenced by Dadaists and Surrealists that embraced abstraction, absurdity, and the subconscious as major themes in their work post WWI. In everyday life, I am inspired by the immigrant experience expressed through both the joy and suffering of my friends and family.
The alchemy of transforming old books and magazines into new works reminds me of the death of identity and adoption of a new life throughout the immigrant experience. My work also adopts a great deal of my dark sense of humor that helps me process the dichotomy between the perceived moral purity of religious institutions and the horrors they actually inflict.
What is your dream project?
Dillon: My dream project would be like a physical location for a cultural hub of sorts. A place for all creatives to work, drink coffee, eat good clean food and interact with other local art. A cafe/studio/gallery/library combination if you will.
What is your biggest challenge?
Marisabel: Aside from managing my social media accounts (which is a close second), I would say that my biggest challenge is believing that I have a unique point of view worth sharing. Normally when reading Tarot for folks they are the vulnerable ones, but when I show my art I feel that the deepest parts of myself are on display.
Get in touch with Dillon and Marisabel
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alley_cat_king/
https://instagram.com/m.lavastida/
If you are a local artist/crafter/maker/indie business owner and would like to be featured on our blog, please fill out this form or contact Ashley at ashley@westandmainhomes.com with questions...we can't wait to learn all about you!
