Alexis Anne Mackenzie’s Stirring, Handcut Collages

Alexis Anne Mackenzie’s handcut collages of found images and pages from vintage books in her latest body of work. By taking pictures like scenic backdrops and splitting them with photos of women and other figures, Mackenzie creates stirring, moody works on paper. The work can be at once empowering and seemingly treacherous for those depicted. Works like “Closer to the Sun,” above, combine like objects, creates a synthesis between the beauty of flight and womanhood. The body of work is part of the show “Never Odd or Even” at Eleanor Harwood Gallery in San Francisco.

Mackenzie is an Ann Arbor, Mich., native who currently lives in Scotland, where she creates her collages. She describes her process as beginning with an idea and a “series of trials and errors, subtle maneuvers, selection/elimination, harmonious unions, and happy accidents.”

Her intentions—and the unpredictable nature of her work—was described in a past statement: “It is a meditative process, and there is a lot of decision-making behind each element involved. My general intent, throughout all my work, is to portray the world as a flawed thing of beauty–a place that shines brightly, but has a dark side to match.”