About
Toronto, Canadian born and raised. As part of an artistic family, he was surrounded by a world of visual concepts and expression. His mother was an art instructor, and Mazzone became particularly interested in the composition and production of stained glass at a young age. The youthful exploration of his artistic talents were pushed aside when he became homeless at the age of 15. Once Mazzone got back on his feet five years later, he pushed himself to explore his true passions again. Having spent so much time on the street Daniel felt as if the people walking by would judge homelessness and homeless people, judging them as drug addicted or lazy. However, the sad truth is most suffered from mental health issues and abuse in the home.
Daniel always felt it would be nice if everyone had parts of their life story on the skin like a tattoo. This way when people looked at you, they would see what you have been through and thus have a better understanding of you. A life without judgment.
Mazzone infused this concept within his art. When creating, he wants his artworks to resemble stained glass like his mother's work. Notice the thick black lines in the work and the separation of articles in the face to mirror the look of led soldered lines to resemble stained glass. The bright colors in the works look as if sunlight is being pushed through. Most importantly, Daniel uses the concept of telling stories through the skin of his characters. Daniel finishes all his works with multi layers of lacquer and resin to have them finished in a glass like state. Daniel feels as though making all his pieces with great intricacy will also push people to stop and analyze his work. Thus, also imbedding curiosity pushing mankind to stop and think more.
Thoughts from the Artist
"What I love most about my artwork and art in general is that there are so many ways to see it, from the very simple to the very complex. When I started working with stained glass as a child with my mother, I enjoyed the process of piecing things together, as if I were creating a unique puzzle that only I could unveil but that the world could dissect in an infinite number of ways. My objective is to give a different perspective on how we perceive things in life – to provide a new lens through which we can view the intricacies of life – and learn to slow down and appreciate the little things.
That is truly what my art is about, the little things, both in the literal and figurative sense. My work is physically comprised of little fragments of my subject’s visual history - where I source historical artifacts such as letters, magazine covers, newspaper articles, song lyrics – and assemble and abstract these original components so that they integrate simultaneously into the new body of work. It creates a portrait which not only portrays the subject’s likeness, but also who they were/are as a person. I enjoy gradually building it all together, like a sculptor in a way, to find their final portrait. What we’re left with then is a likeness of the subject that doesn’t mask the little pieces for the whole, but celebrates those pieces as important building blocks for what makes up a person. Because of these pieces of history, I believe my pieces have soul. I’m able to take a subject, old or new, familiar or unfamiliar, and breathe new life into it. And some of this breath is my own. I delve so deeply into the research and put so much effort into each piece that I inevitably bond with the work. This just adds one more perspective though; it adds one more layer to the story.
Choosing mosaics to convey multiple layers and complexities of a subject made sense to me. I have been fascinated by the act of assembling thousands of individual tiny pieces to create a whole new form since I was a child. I work freehand to carve shapes and pieces on all different types of paper materials. Paint is never used at all. Everything is hand cut to fit together the pieces like a puzzle. Building the story, I carefully layer all the images so that they read together as a cohesive whole. The intricate details and attention I display in my art is also there to compel my viewer to stop, focus, and take a closer look. Because sometimes we focus too much on what we don’t have that we fail to see and appreciate the things we already have."
