Fred Tomaselli is known for his mixed media works on wood board. When viewed from afar, the artworks appear to be paintings but in fact often have bits of trash, scrap papers, plants and medicinal products adhered to their surface under a layer of shining epoxy gloss.

Tomaselli’s studio is located in Brooklyn, NY. In this studio photo it is clear the amount of work and detail that goes into each of Tomaselli’s paintings – the artwork pictured is quite large and yet the Tomaselli is working with one of the smallest possible bushes. The tiny pots of paint surrounding him look like the type you’d get with a hobby model-building kit and perhaps not what you’d expect for a large painting in a studio. Because of his use of other interesting materials, he keeps drawers filled with magazine cutouts, plants and leaves, and even pill bottles full of different medications at the ready so that he can stick the items to his paintings.

Tomaselli’s works often feature colourful figures on dark backgrounds. The outlines of figures are filled in with his mixed media collections. The artist has said that his paintings often deal with the artificiality of representation – figures that are just outlines filled in with other, unrelated images. He has previously worked with installations and sculptural art, but his current practice revolves entirely around his paintings. 

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