Layers of an Afternoon Market: Wayne Yu Finds Memory in the Everyday
At the Future Art & Design Award 2026 Summer Season, Wayne Yu received the Gold Prize in the Collage Art category for Layers of an Afternoon Market, a mixed-material composition inspired by the quiet atmosphere of a sunlit flea market. Combining photography with paper, fabric, packaging and other everyday materials, Yu creates a layered scene where objects become carriers of memory and imagination.
The work began with a magazine photograph of a man browsing a market, a scene that reminded Yu of visits to European flea markets. By adding dimensional textures and collage elements, the artist moves beyond straightforward documentation, inviting viewers to explore the meeting point between a remembered place and an imagined one.
Layers of an Afternoon Market captures a quiet, dreamy moment—where a gentleman wanders through a sunlit flea market, searching for hidden treasures. Flea markets are full of charm and stories, where vintage goods, old books, and handmade crafts reflect the beauty of everyday life.
This artwork blends collage and real photography, building rich layers of texture and meaning. Each layer tells part of a story—mixing what is real and what is felt, imagination and memory. The 3D touches make the piece even more dynamic, adding depth that draws the viewer in.
What makes this work special is how it invites people to explore again and again. With every look, new little details reveal themselves—like a visual puzzle waiting to be solved. You can lose yourself in it, tracing the layers, finding small surprises hidden in the scene, and feeling that magical mix of artistry, curiosity, and emotion.
Interview
Q. What initially inspired this project? Was there a particular idea, moment, or question that sparked its creation?
Wayne: Layers of an Afternoon Market began as a new experiment in my artistic journey, combining photography with collage in a more intentional way. Recently, I have been exploring collage art and how different materials—paper, fabric, packaging, and everyday objects such as a canned coffee label—can carry memory, emotion, and meaning.
The inspiration started when I came across a magazine photograph of a gentleman wandering through a sunlit flea market, seemingly searching for hidden treasures. The quiet atmosphere immediately caught my attention and reminded me of my own experiences visiting flea markets in Europe, where vintage goods, old books, handmade crafts, and forgotten objects each seem to carry their own story.
Looking at the image, I began to think about “layers”: layers of objects, memory, time, and imagination. I wanted to create not just a picture of a market, but a layered visual experience—somewhere between reality and memory, photography and collage, observation and imagination.
Q. Looking back at the execution process, what proved to be the most compelling milestone or the most complex hurdle you had to overcome?
Wayne: The most compelling milestone was deciding that the work should not remain a flat image. I wanted to create a stronger sense of depth, as if the viewer could visually “walk into” the scene. This led me to build the collage in layers, combining photographic elements with handmade and material-based textures.
The biggest challenge was balance. Collage can easily become too crowded when many materials and details are involved. I had to make the work feel rich but not confusing, detailed but still harmonious. I wanted viewers to discover small surprises while keeping the overall atmosphere calm and poetic.
Another key challenge was blending photography and collage naturally. Photography captures a real moment, while collage transforms it into something more imaginative and emotional. Finding the right balance between what should remain real and what should become invented became an important part of the creative process.
Q. How was your experience taking part in the Future Art & Design Award UK?
Wayne: Participating in the Future Art & Design Award UK was a very valuable experience. It offered a wonderful opportunity to discover and learn from a diverse community of artists and designers. I was inspired not only by the outstanding works, but also by the creative processes, ideas, and thinking behind them.
I always enjoy seeing how different people approach creativity—some works are highly conceptual, some are visually powerful, and others connect closely with social issues, technology, or daily life. This diversity made the experience very meaningful to me.
Receiving recognition for Layers of an Afternoon Market encouraged me to continue exploring the possibilities of collage art. Through my different roles—as a part-time artist, a full-time executive director in the business field, and a university professor—I see creativity not only as artistic expression, but also as a way of thinking, observing, and solving problems across art, business, education, and everyday life.
Editor’s Note
Layers of an Afternoon Market celebrates the stories that accumulate around ordinary objects. A flea market is already a collection of fragments from different lives; Yu extends that idea by physically layering images and materials, allowing the composition itself to resemble the process of remembering.
The Gold Prize-winning work depends on a careful balance between abundance and clarity. Its details encourage repeated looking, while its overall mood remains reflective rather than crowded. Yu’s combination of photographic observation and tactile invention demonstrates how collage can make familiar scenes feel newly open to discovery.
Follow the Artist
Instagram: www.instagram.com/wayne_yyu/
My doctoral research focused on creativity, which continues to inspire my work in learning, teaching, and knowledge sharing. I will soon publish a book related to creativity in Hong Kong, and I am also writing a book about collage art in a dialogue format with an artist in Hong Kong. These two books continue to push me to reflect on how creativity and innovation can be developed and applied in both business and art.
In addition, my artistic practice explores collage, memory, daily objects, and imagination. I am especially interested in how ordinary materials can be transformed into meaningful visual stories, and how collage can expand creative expression across art, business, education, and culture.
