Ed Wolk is a Canadian artist who has been creating digital collages for over 25 years. With a professional background in radio production, Ed has long been drawn to the art of assembling fragments — whether through sound or image. His interest in collage began in Vancouver, when a large-scale work by the artist Famous Empty Sky inspired him to experiment with paper scraps. What started as a personal exploration eventually evolved into a digital practice that he continues to develop and share on his website today.

Ed often reflects on the parallels between his past career and his current art. Just as radio production involved tightening pauses, layering sounds, and shaping rhythm into coherence, his collages rely on the careful arrangement of images, textures, and juxtapositions. He describes his approach as a kind of “visual mixtape,” drawing inspiration from his lifelong love of album art and his annual tradition of assembling Christmas mix tapes — an audio collage in its own right.

We asked Ed about his art, creative process, and inspirations.

You’ve been making digital collages for over 25 years — what first drew you to the medium back then?

When I lived in Vancouver BC I worked across the street from the Vancouver Public Library which displayed many art works. One was a huge collage by a local artist 'Famous Empty Sky,' and thought, "I can do that." Collected some paper scraps and started assembling my own collages.

Coming from a background in radio production, do you see any connections between sound editing and visual collage?

A great question... never thought of that before. When I was 18 years old my ambition was to work for a record company in promotion; hopefully, with a hand in designing LP jackets, I knew that album art was essential in selling a record. I should know, I bought many LP's based on the album art work. A good friend of mine who worked for a record company at that time was hoping to hire me, but he got hired by a radio station and offered me a job in radio production instead. So my ambition went from the visual to audio. I learned a lot over the years in radio production. In the editing process were there so much you can do; tighten pauses, add 'breathes,' background music, sounds… An aural collage in many ways. Every year I assemble a Christmas mix tape – an audio collage.

What role does digital manipulation play in your work compared to traditional collage techniques?

First off, there is no debris field of cut up paper scraps. I have many handcrafted collages that include original elements used once. With digital you can continually repurpose elements. Better yet, the only debris is in your head.

How do you think retirement has shaped your art practice — more freedom, more play, more reflection?

I'm 74, I retired at the age of 58, and I made a few promises to myself: I would read more books and improve my computer skills.

Have there been any surprising or memorable responses to your work?

This may sound very vain, but at times I will look at my work and ponder; "That's really good, did I really do that?" Feedback from others has been very positive: "You should have an exhibition"..etc.

What is a profound childhood memory?

So many… I was the youngest of four. My Polish parents had emigrated to Canada from Germany in 1948. They were transported out of their village in Poland in 1943, liberated in 1945, and moved to Canada. We had a small, cold water flat, slept six in one room. Not much money to be spent on toys etc. There were many textile factories nearby, which provided enough materiel to make our own toys. It was great!

What is a fun fact about you?

For the many years working in Radio Music, recording and working with an incredible roster of musicians… I do not play an instrument, nor can I read music.

What excites you most about digital collage today compared to when you first started?

The learning curve. And the many apps out there to isolate images, remove backgrounds, enhance images, change colours, add texture – things that can't easily be done in handcrafted collages.

What else fills your time when you’re not creating art?

I listen to a lot of music. Cooking, riding my bike. Reading e-comic books and graphic novels and sorting through my extensive collection of ephemera, sharing them with others who are still handcrafting collages.

One of the challenges I encounter these days is not letting my 'collages' become predictable, routine in imagery and style. I love creating 'Tableau' scenes with expressive faces on backgrounds of fantasy. Other times I try and create a more abstract vision. At the end of the day, it's all part of an exercise, a process to challenge my mind and imagination. When you have an inventory of over 10,000 images it's a challenge to remember where they are.

Another aspect of the whole process; thanks to the internet there is a plethora of sites for images. Etsy is great for finding images at a reasonable cost. I no longer have to spend hours scanning, editing, and processing my inventory of images etc.

For many years I was an avid Philatelist (collector of stamps) of primarily engraved, recessed printed stamps. Wonderful examples could be found in most European stamps. France, Czechoslovakia, the Scandinavian countries and Spain had a great pool of designers and engravers. When I started using a scanner to process some of my various bits of paper ephemera, I also included postage stamps, once scanned and enlarged I could better see the intricate details in the engraver's art. Then I thought, why not make a collage from other stamps and add them to a base stamp.

The first one I assembled was one using a Croatian stamp issued in 1943, engraved by Karl Seizinger as the background image and then added 21 elements from other stamps. I shared the stamp collage with friends in the Philatelic community and they were intrigued by the process and concept , presenting them with a challenge to figure out the source of the 21 added elements used from other stamps. All though the process was labor intensive, it was fun. Over a period three years I assembled 24 'Stamp' collages.