Biography
British artist Colin David Clarke, recognised by his business name, strayltd, is best known for creating contemporary collage artworks that narrate stories with depth and context. Working with free association techniques inherent in a collage art practice, he relies heavily on elements of chance in his compositions by following a trail of his unconscious thoughts triggered by the relationship between different collage pieces. Always referencing his source material to add subtext, he often works with music memorabilia, and has extended his practice to include cultural websites and magazines, and even other artists. Examples of his methodology include an image of a sleeping person made out of Surrealist artworks, depictions of Adam and Eve made out of i-D.vice.com, and portraits of the Queen made from bits of UK punk memorabilia. 

Often leaving his collages roughly cut to aid the flow of subconscious thought, his aesthetic possesses a strong flavour of the DIY fanzines of the punk era. Taking this a step further, his current three dimensional artworks are stretched, folded and creased, representing a major development in his artistic practice. Nevertheless, despite this unrefined approach, his artworks possess richly defined narratives, due to the use of free association and contextual source material. 

As he has noted, “Analysing my work involves a process similar to that of a waking person dissecting their dreams. Each artwork leaves you with the feeling it was just waiting to be discovered in the source material”

Born in London, England, Clarke studied at Chelsea School of Art and University of the Creative Arts, gaining an honours degree. He now lives and works in London and Hamburg as a freelance artist and art director. Most notably he has received commissions from Grammy Award winning musicians The Mars Volta, creating seven dream themed collage artworks made from bits of The Mars Volta record covers for the box set La Realidad De Los Sueños (2021), as well as the records Eunuch Provocateur (2021) and A Plague Upon Your Hissing Children (2021). He later made a series of nine biographically themed collage artworks from bits of Omar Rodríguez-López covers for the quadruple box set Amor De Frances (2023).

A strong advocate of digital art, Clarke created a sold out debut cryptoart collection, ‘77 Portraits of The Queen (2022) made from bits of UK punk memorabilia, released for the Platinum Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II. Later reviving the same source material for Come The Revolution We Will All Be Kings For The Day (2023) during the coronation of King Charles III. His short-form video collaboration Hello Herbert (2024), made from bits of artworks by renowned digital art pioneer Herbert W. Franke, has also been published by Stiftung Herbert W. Franke.

Clarke’s practice gives him the versatility to exhibit in diverse exhibition spaces, and he has been exhibited around the world alongside his contemporaries from a range of disciplines. He has been displayed next to cryptoart pioneers at the Birth of New Tools, Tong Gallery, Beijing, China (2022), record cover artists at InBetween, Reeperbahn Festival, Hamburg, Germany (2022), SETI enthusiasts at Contact Attempt, in Planetariums across Germany (2024/25), gaming enthusiasts at Select Start, Beeple’s Studios, South Carolina, USA (2025) and among British contemporary fine artists at Hastings Contemporary during Odyssey. Most significantly, his 3D collage Self-Portrait In A Convex Manner (2024) is represented in the permanent collection of Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien, Austria.

Resumé
Colin David Clarke | @strayltd
Born 1971, London, England
Living and working as an Artist and Art Director in London, England and Hamburg, Germany

Education
1988-90 Chelsea School of Art, Foundation
Exhibited at Chelsea School of Art
Alumni of University of Arts, London

1991-94 University of the Creative Arts, BA (Hons) Graphic Design
Exhibited at Royal Society of Arts

Group Exhibitions
2026 Chance Encounters: Art Through Accident and Invitation, Fringe Arts Bath, Bath, UK
2026 Odyssey, Hastings Contemporary, Hastings, UK
2025 Select Start, Beeple’s Studios, South Carolina, USA
2025 Contact Attempt, Stiftung Herbert W. Franke, Planetarium Jena, Jena, DE
2025 Contact Attempt, Stiftung Herbert W. Franke, Planetarium Bochum, Bochum, DE
2024 Contact Attempt, Stiftung Herbert W. Franke, Planetarium Hamburg, Hamburg, DE
2024 Intl All Media, Minot University, Walter Piehl Gallery, Northwest Arts Centre, USA
2024 Continuum, Accelerate Art, High Tech Campus, Eindhoven, NL
2023 NFT.NYC, Javits Center, Hudson Yards, New York, USA
2022 InBetween, Reeperbahn Festival, Hamburg, DE
2022 Birth Of New Tools, Tong Gallery, Beijing, CN

Collections
2024 Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien, Austria, Permanent Collection
2022 XCOPY, Private Collection
2021 TokenAngels, Private Collection
2021 Jane Rogers, Private Collection

Awards
2025 Finalist, National Album Day UK, Mural Open Call

Publications
2025 Contact Attempt, Stiftung Herbert W. Franke, FullDome Publication
2024 Art Aperitivo, Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien, Podcast
2021 La Realidad De Los Sueños, The Mars Volta Podcast, Podcast

Commissions
2023 Amor De Frances, Omar Rodríguez-López, Quadruple Box Set
2021 La Realidad De Los Sueños, The Mars Volta, Box Set
2021 A Plague Upon Your Hissing Children, The Mars Volta, 12” Single
2021 Eunuch Provocateur, The Mars Volta, 12” Single
2021 Landscape Tantrums, The Mars Volta, Album
2021 Inertiatic ESP, The Mars Volta, Single
2020 The Clouds Hill Tapes, Omar Rodríguez-López, Triple Album Box Set
2020 Winter’s Gone, Omar Rodríguez-López, Single

Testimonials
“Your artwork will make an important contemporary contribution to our collection”
Sabine Haag, Director General, Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien

“Stumbled across Queenies by strayltd and scrambled to unlock my ledger. Banger.”
XCOPY, Cryptoart Pioneer

“La Realidad De Los Sueños, resembles some kind of trippy, seemingly bottomless treasure chest”
Rolling Stone, April 2021

“His work is cool”
Omar Rodríguez-López, Musician, The Mars Volta