WorkArt & Culture

Literal Pop Art: Artist crafts beautiful collages out of recycled fizzy drink cans

In his ongoing body of work, Scottish artist Allan McEnroe takes old drinks cans and puts them through a meticulous cleaning and cutting process before crafting beautiful collaged artworks of nature and pop culture.

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Allan McEnroe's panda collage made from cut and layered recycled aluminium drinks cans with printed text and red markings, set against a colourful patterned background

Allan explains: "After preparing the aluminium cans, I measure and mark pieces according to the shapes and sizes I need for a specific drawing. I usually work in stages, going back to a piece several times until completion. The process can take anything from three hours to several weeks."

He uses various tools to create his special artworks including tweezers, scissors, bonding glue and brushes. He adds: "I started in this unique form of art after seeing these shiny cans being thrown away and thought, they are pretty nice looking items, seems a shame to just chuck them out. And so the work was born."

Based in Scotland, Allan is self-taught and his work has been featured on publications worldwide. To discover more, visit www.allanisart.com.

Via direct submission | All images courtesy of Allan McEnroe

Silhouette of a woman's head in profile filled with an aerial map of a city, with a red abstract shape on the neck, surrounded by turquoise brushstrokes, created from recycled fizzy drink cans by Allan McEnroe
Portrait of a man with blue skin and wild straw-like hair in red and cream tones, created from collaged recycled drinks cans by Allan McEnroe
Silhouette of a howling wolf created from collaged pieces of recycled fizzy drink cans with red and metallic patterning against a dark blue background
Stylised elephant head made from collaged pieces of silver and dark-coloured recycled aluminium drinks cans, with the trunk tapering to a point against a grey background
Silhouette of a chimpanzee's head against a colourful patterned background, with the monkey's face filled with collaged pieces of recycled drinks cans and newspaper
Stylised portrait of a man wearing glasses and a black hat with a full beard, created from collaged pieces of colourful recycled aluminium drink cans on a teal background with paint splatters
Portrait of a figure wearing round glasses with recycled fizzy drink can pieces collaged across the face and neck area on a dark background
Pop art portrait with vibrant magenta and teal tones, featuring a figure with round glasses and long hair, face composed of collaged recycled aluminium drinks cans against a yellow background
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