My name is Ali Vermilio, I’m a collage artist & designer, from the UK.

I spent my twenties working as a designer and strategist; interested in creative problem solving, as well as aesthetics, and found, through design, an opportunity to build my foundational visual literacy. Immersed in the colourful world of design, I found myself feeling both energised and uneasy. The consumable nature of it all felt inescapable, and I could see more clearly how perspectives are shaped through the stories and images we see.

I started to use collage as a way to explore thought; separate from a brief or expectation, and made the decision to freelance to give myself the freedom and autonomy to focus on my collage art, and to travel. Drawn to the relics of times gone by; I often spend hazy days scouring flea markets, antique shops and trawling dusty books for lost stories and forgotten memories. Looking for inspiration, I’d often nestle my head in old magazines, record sleeves and books; collecting and cutting pages of images that struck me in some way, nostalgic for a life I’d not lived – looking to the old to inspire the new. In our increasingly disposable world, I find comfort and satisfaction in breathing new life into something otherwise discarded.

I’m interested in using art as a means to explore consciousness; where and how ideas form; how our internal worlds are reflected in our external reality; and how our personal and collective stories echo and shape our perspectives in the world.

My work sits somewhere between memory and fantasy; and through the repurposing of old magazines and materials, my process itself nods to rebirth and transformation. It’s an outlet for my inner questioning and contemplations on the nature of reality – informed by the ideas and musings of great thinkers and mystics. At heart, I am a seeker, interested in freedom and liberation and in turn the cultural, social and mental systems which inhibit it. As such my practice is an evolving conversation, much like my own perspectives, and is inspired by my interest in nature, yoga, philosophy, and mythology.

My works featured across websites, for brands, album covers and in publishing. I’ve been commissioned to create works for Ram Dass (Be Here Now Network), Mute Records and Hay House publishing.