Pop Art-Artist Ethan Moore

This is the work of Ethan Moore. Ethan’s trajectory is quite remarkable—he actually made his first professional sale at the age of twelve before moving to New York to study at Parsons School of Design.

What I find most compelling is that after his time in New York, he returned to Texas to undergo a traditional apprenticeship. He didn’t just want to paint; he wanted to build. He actually studied industrial welding to master metalwork, which is why you see such a profound sense of structure and ‘weight’ in his mixed-media pieces.

Along that journey, he’s also spent time working alongside and exchanging ideas with a diverse group of artists—including Candido Veras out of the Dominican Republic and Franco Ruiz from San Antonio—both of whom influenced his approach to color and material.

And interestingly, during his time traveling, he had the opportunity to spend time in conversation with Cornelia Parker in London. While informal, that exposure to conceptual practice added another layer to how he thinks about space, tension, and presentation within his work.

If you look closely at his Pop Art series, you’ll notice a depth that photos simply cannot capture. While the aesthetic is a nod to the Warhol era, the process is incredibly modern and labor-intensive.

He uses a technique called intricate reverse layering. He builds the image from the front to the back, essentially painting ‘backwards’ behind a layer of museum-grade acrylic. This locks the vibrant color theory into a glass-like finish that feels both archival and cutting-edge.

You’ll notice that despite the figurative nature of the portraits, Ethan chooses to leave his subjects anonymous. He intentionally avoids giving them names or identities.