The Dead Ant

The Dead Ant is an artist based in Waterloo, Ontario who specializes in paper and resin collages. His distinctive style is informed by his experiences with mental health and living as a queer person. Originally a self-taught painter, The Dead Ant used art as a form of self-care. Creating with no requirements and allowing the paint to dictate the direction of the abstract pieces had provided a means of escape from everyday life.

The Dead Ant made the switch to collaging when he realized he could use fragmented images to better articulate the theme of mental health, and the aspects that make up one’s personality. Dissecting photographs allow him to explore the idea of using broken pieces to create something whole, the same way a person living with mental illness works through feeling broken, and eventually resolving what wholeness means to them.

In contrast to his earlier work The Dead Ant’s current focus is much more structured and thought out. The amount of planning that goes into the collage work allows the viewer to be challenged through the design, the images selected, and the name of the piece.