Shelby x Juan Sebastián Cassiani (he/him)

Juan Sebastián Cassiani is a 24-year-old analog collage artist and sociology student based in Barranquilla, Colombia. His work portrays his insights about subjects such as time, environment and social relationships. In his pieces, reality becomes malleable as he tends to conflate and harmonize diverse elements.

Q1. We love what you created for this month’s issue of the zine. Could you share a little overview of this and talk us through your process?

This piece portrays my experience with cannabis. I suffer from anxiety and after I tried the pills I got prescribed with, I decided that I wasn't going to consume them since they made me feel dazed and dizzy. I started looking for alternatives and that's when I tried cannabis. This collage is my way of celebrating that discovery which I know, a lot of people can relate to. I intended to depict the feeling of discovering something you were looking for a long time and its consequent emotional liberation.

Eureka! includes the naked women dancing in Matisse's painting "La Danse", a cannabis bud, a light bulb socket and orange and yellow color papers. At first, I was only going to include Matisse's women and the cannabis bud, but then I came out with the light bulb idea, which I think represents the meaning of the title way better. Since it's an analog collage all I used were a pair of scissors and glue stick.


Q2. What attracted you to submit artwork for our 4 :20 issue of the digital magazine?

I was really attracted to the zine's artivist nature and its revolutionary and accesible approach of raising awareness about certain topics, especially this one: cannabis, which still has a long road ahead in my home country Colombia. Also, representing my personal experience with cannabis was a challenge I made a long time ago so this was the inspiration and motivation I needed to materialize it.

Q3. What led you to start creating collages?

I started to create collages as a way of dealing with my anxiety and also to spend time with my little niece.

Q4. What are some of the key themes your work focuses on?

Social relationships, environment, literature and mental disorders.


Q5. You mentioned that your artwork helps you start conversations about political issues, could you give any examples of this?

I have a collage titled "Cóctel de Viernes por la Noche" (Friday Night Cocktail) which includes a blender full of pills. This was the first piece I made about struggling with a mental condition. To my surprise, several people from my community felt identified with it and we decided to get together and share our experiences. We ended up doing it virtually because of the social distance restrictions.

Something similar happened with a piece called "Lavado Activo" (something like "Active Laundry") which showed a washing machine with some coins above and different currencies inside. Thanks to this one, we had a debate in one of my university classes. It was pertinent to talk about it because, unfortunately, Colombia is one of the most corrupt countries in the world.


Q6. If you could collaborate with anyone (dead or alive), who would it be?

Antonio Caro, a recently deceased Colombian conceptual artist and Alejandro Obregón, a Colombian/Spanish painter who inspired an entire generation of artist in my city (Barranquilla) and Colombia.


Q7. Where can people find/buy/commission more of your work?

Via my Instagram account: @casstuff_