Erika Iris Simmons is a Princeton-based artist who creates stunning collages from reconfigured sheet music. She transforms musical notes into faces, figures and patterns that seem to spring to life from the pages. Her work is inspired by her fascination with perception, cognition and optical illusions. She started her artistic career as a face-painter and makeup designer, and later experimented with other recycled materials such as cassette tapes and old film. Some of her most notable collages feature portraits of Beethoven, Martin Luther King Jr. and a trumpeting angel, made from the sheet music of their respective symphonies, speeches and serenades. Her work is a visual representation of the transcendence felt in beautiful music.

Beauty and potential in everyday objects and to appreciate the art of recycling.