Mark Eliason

Mark Eliason creates Pop Surrealistic collages that must be seen in person to truly appreciate their depth. His mixed media works feature whimsical subjects like little girls holding balloons, angels and fallen angels, animals and icons, but up close they reveal something extraordinary. Each piece is painstakingly constructed from thousands of tiny scraps of recycled magazine images, taking 120 to 175 hours to complete. He cuts up magazines into small pieces, then layers and glues different media onto plywood substrates, using each scrap as pigment to build texture and tell his story.
Although Eliason showed artistic aptitude early on, he didn’t fully embrace art until his 50s. He studied chemical engineering at the University of Minnesota Duluth before switching to fine arts, but ultimately left college in his senior year to work in carpentry. He obtained his contractor’s license and eventually owned a small construction company with his wife. During those years, he occasionally drew and took up decorative decoy carving, winning best in show at the Pacific Flyway Association in Sacramento, California.
In 2017, turning 50 sparked an epiphany. Eliason began creating daily, starting with hyper realistic pencil drawings before moving through watercolors, acrylics and charcoals. Several years later, when his art revenue surpassed his construction income, he sold his company to work full time as an artist. Today, represented by Park West Gallery, he believes inspiration comes from dedication and hard work rather than waiting for the muse to strike.