What began as a hobby for the artist Ed Chapman is now a full-time vocation with an added eco-friendly twist. Tahira Yaqoob talks to the Briton with a knack for creating sought-after celebrity portraits out of everyday materials you might otherwise find in your bin
Working in a string of unsatisfying jobs, from a stint in a fish and chip shop to a position as a regional newspaper reporter, Ed Chapman longed to turn his hobby of creating mosaic artwork into a career.
Despite never having gone to art college, he discovered, at the age of 20, a knack for creating striking likenesses of celebrities using torn pieces of discarded paper. It took him nearly a decade of perfecting his art in his evenings, but it is now a full-time job for Chapman, 40, who has sold his portraits to celebrities and collectors around the world.
From Lancashire in the UK, Chapman has exhibited in galleries from New York to Manchester. Among his fans is the singer Lemmy from Motörhead, who commissioned a portrait for his pad in Los Angeles. And in February a mosaic portrait he created of Jimi Hendrix using 7,000 donated guitar picks sold at a cancer charity auction in London for £23,000 (Dh137,600), considerably more than the guide price of £12,000 to £16,000.
His father was a sculptor and his mother a painter who studied at the Liverpool College of Art alongside John Lennon and Stuart Sutcliffe, the so-called "fifth Beatle" who died at the age of 21. She introduced Lennon to The Catcher in the Rye, a novel whose cover her son later created in a paper mosaic.
"I started with portraits of James Dean and Kurt Cobain and I was quite pleased with the result," Chapman recalls. "I kept experimenting with different materials but I was just doing it as a hobby. It did not start out as a mission to recycle but it has become something of an eco-message. I started using ceramics in 2003 with a simple image of Che Guevara because I wanted to see if portraits could be done in another way."
Chapman became a full-time artist a decade ago. His works feature stars ranging from Angelina Jolie and The Beatles to Premier League footballers.
"It has gone in tandem with increasing celebrity culture," he says. "Fifteen years ago, exhibiting portraits of famous people in a gallery was not the done thing but that has certainly changed."
Company Profile
Company name: Hoopla
Date started: March 2023
Founder: Jacqueline Perrottet
Based: Dubai
Number of staff: 10
Investment stage: Pre-seed
Investment required: $500,000
'Top Gun: Maverick'
Rating: 4/5
Directed by: Joseph Kosinski
Starring: Tom Cruise, Val Kilmer, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Miles Teller, Glen Powell, Ed Harris
The bio
Favourite book: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Favourite travel destination: Maldives and south of France
Favourite pastime: Family and friends, meditation, discovering new cuisines
Favourite Movie: Joker (2019). I didn’t like it while I was watching it but then afterwards I loved it. I loved the psychology behind it.
Favourite Author: My father for sure
Favourite Artist: Damien Hurst
SPECS
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
COMPANY PROFILE
Company name: Revibe
Started: 2022
Founders: Hamza Iraqui and Abdessamad Ben Zakour
Based: UAE
Industry: Refurbished electronics
Funds raised so far: $10m
Investors: Flat6Labs, Resonance and various others
Company profile
Company name: Fasset
Started: 2019
Founders: Mohammad Raafi Hossain, Daniel Ahmed
Based: Dubai
Sector: FinTech
Initial investment: $2.45 million
Current number of staff: 86
Investment stage: Pre-series B
Investors: Investcorp, Liberty City Ventures, Fatima Gobi Ventures, Primal Capital, Wealthwell Ventures, FHS Capital, VN2 Capital, local family offices
Day 2, Dubai Test: At a glance
Moment of the day Pakistan’s effort in the field had hints of shambles about it. The wheels were officially off when Wahab Riaz lost his run up and aborted the delivery four times in a row. He re-measured his run, jogged in for two practice goes. Then, when he was finally ready to go, he bailed out again. It was a total cringefest.
Stat of the day – 139.5 Yasir Shah has bowled 139.5 overs in three innings so far in this Test series. Judged by his returns, the workload has not withered him. He has 14 wickets so far, and became history’s first spinner to take five-wickets in an innings in five consecutive Tests. Not bad for someone whose fitness was in question before the series.
The verdict Stranger things have happened, but it is going to take something extraordinary for Pakistan to keep their undefeated record in Test series in the UAE in tact from this position. At least Shan Masood and Sami Aslam have made a positive start to the salvage effort.
THE SPECS
Engine: 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder
Transmission: Constant Variable (CVT)
Power: 141bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Price: Dh64,500
On sale: Now
Roll of honour 2019-2020
Dubai Rugby Sevens
Winners: Dubai Hurricanes
Runners up: Bahrain
West Asia Premiership
Winners: Bahrain
Runners up: UAE Premiership
UAE Premiership
Winners: Dubai Exiles
Runners up: Dubai Hurricanes
UAE Division One
Winners: Abu Dhabi Saracens
Runners up: Dubai Hurricanes II
UAE Division Two
Winners: Barrelhouse
Runners up: RAK Rugby
The specs
Engine: 4 liquid-cooled permanent magnet synchronous electric motors placed at each wheel
Battery: Rimac 120kWh Lithium Nickel Manganese Cobalt Oxide (LiNiMnCoO2) chemistry
Power: 1877bhp
Torque: 2300Nm
Price: Dh7,500,00
On sale: Now
BRAZIL SQUAD
Alisson (Liverpool), Daniel Fuzato (Roma), Ederson (Man City); Alex Sandro (Juventus), Danilo (Juventus), Eder Militao (Real Madrid), Emerson (Real Betis), Felipe (Atletico Madrid), Marquinhos (PSG), Renan Lodi (Atletico Madrid), Thiago Silva (PSG); Arthur (Barcelona), Casemiro (Real Madrid), Douglas Luiz (Aston Villa), Fabinho (Liverpool), Lucas Paqueta (AC Milan), Philippe Coutinho (Bayern Munich); David Neres (Ajax), Gabriel Jesus (Man City), Richarlison (Everton), Roberto Firmino (Liverpool), Rodrygo (Real Madrid), Willian (Chelsea).
BACK TO ALEXANDRIA
Director: Tamer Ruggli
Starring: Nadine Labaki, Fanny Ardant
Rating: 3.5/5