At just 16, Amari can speak to the times with a single collage of portraits he clips together digitally. His artwork features the likes of Kobe Bryant, Black Lives Matter, and most infamously Travis Scott. Read about how he got started, where his inspiration comes from, and what his plans are for the future.
I like to do a quick little intro for the readers, would you mind sharing who you are and how you got started with these collages?
My name is Amari Haltom, I’m 16, I live in Virginia, and I do collages.
So I did my first collage at the start of my Junior year, and school was hell for me. I’m a dyslexic kid with ADHD so school has never been fun, but this year was so much worse, I would walk into every class sit down and just get on my phone and talk to no one. I was so depressed, and needed something to do so I started drawing again, because I use to do that a lot as a kid but for some reason I just stopped. I wanted to be an anime artist and I really wasn’t getting anywhere with my skill so I started looking for some other art to do, then I came across this collage on Instagram by @visualsfromniko and I thought it was so cool. So bought photoshop and started doing collages, my first one was terrible but I kept at it and got way better really quickly, and here I am today.
Are there any other artists out there that you look up to from a design perspective?
I don’t really look up to anyone really anymore because I’m confident I’m my ability now, but I usually get more inspired from the artist that I’m doing a collage on more than anything.
What type of music do you like to listen to when you are putting these pieces together?
I usually listen to the music of the artist I’m doing the collage on because it gets me in the mood and I feel like I’m connecting more with the artist and the art that I’m making.
But if I’m doing a collage on a person not in the music industry then probably Kid Cudi, Travis Scott, or OutKast.
When do you see a photo of an artist or athlete and think, "I need to collage them"?
It can really be any image that can spark my imagination and a vision for a collage.
You're so young - What are some of your plans for let's say, post-high school?
I actually dropped out of high school like two months before the virus hit. I have a vision for a clothing brand that I would’ve started by now but due to the virus I can’t work and am broke so thats kind of at a stand still right now. I’m also writing a script for a movie that I want to make in the future.
But yeah, I have big big dreams for the future post teen years.
Who would be your dream artist to collaborate on a collage or art piece with?
My dream collab would definitely be Travis Scott. He’s by far my favorite artist and I’ve made like 4-5 collages on him already. My very first collage was of Travis Scott. So yeah I’d love to work with Travis.
Lastly, what is one of your favorite pieces you have put together?
I don’t really know my favorite - I feel like I top myself almost every time with each collage, but I’d probably say my most recent xxxtentacion collage, my most recent Travis Scott collage, or the very first collage on my page the Denzel Curry collage.