Through his artwork, Al Souza investigates the aesthetic and conceptual properties of die-cut jigsaw puzzles, removing individual images from an original whole and arranging them onto the surfaces as he sees fit. His assemblages are filled with seductive juxtapositions recombining ideas and images. They resonate with energy while achieving subtleties of both color and space. Souza refers to his assemblages, composed of thousands of collaged jigsaw puzzle pieces, as “paintings.” Souza says, “I look at them structurally the same way a painter would.I usually have fragments of puzzle spread around on my studio floor, and then I get up on a ladder and make decisions. The whole room becomes my palette.” The resulting assemblages work in the same way that a painting does. Up close the works are filled with intense detail, but from afar each work creates a rich tapestry of color and texture in coherent compositions.