Artist statement
The story behind Atris
Atris began at the end of 2018 and took 45 months to complete.
It is a hand-drawn vision of a futuristic city — dense, layered, and carefully ordered beneath its apparent chaos. Roads, bridges, levels, and architectural forms cross the landscape in many directions, but they are not random. Every route has a purpose, and the terrain itself becomes part of the city.
During the process of preparing the finished original for reproduction, a technical scanning issue made a straightforward reproduction impossible. Atris is therefore presented as a limited edition of 3,000 copies, each signed and numbered by Alex Proud.
Read the full story
I started Atris at the end of 2018.
At first, it was only a sketch — a vision of a futuristic city where architecture could move far beyond ordinary limits. But as I worked, the idea kept growing. I did not want to simplify it or choose the easier path. I kept adding roads, levels, bridges, structures, and details, moving further and further away from the first sketch until the city became much larger and more complex than I had originally planned.
The work took 45 months.
Many people may think that the hardest part was drawing it. For me, the hardest part was the whole journey: staying with the idea for years, keeping the structure alive, and bringing the city to a point where every part felt connected.
Atris may look chaotic at first, but the chaos is only apparent. Every road has a direction. Every interchange has a logic. Opposing traffic flows are designed not to collide. The terrain is not just a background — it becomes part of the city itself.
After the original drawing was completed, I began preparing it for reproduction. At that stage, a technical scanning issue made a straightforward reproduction impossible. Because the original had already been mounted on a solid base, the work required another long stage of preparation: restoring the continuity of the image, reconstructing missing details, and preparing it for a limited edition.
It was a difficult process, but I still wanted Atris to be seen, owned, and enjoyed.
The edition is limited to 3,000 copies. Each copy is signed and numbered by me.
Atris is the best work I was able to create at that stage of my life. I hope it will be a piece you can return to again and again — discovering new routes, structures, and details over the years.
Sincerely,
Alex Proud
