Retro-Futurist Artist Roger Mattos Creates Intimacy on a Cosmic Scale
Meet the São Paulo artist building cinematic collages that hold love and longing in suspension
Artist Roger Mattos makes images that feel like they’ve drifted in from somewhere just out of reach.
Based in São Paulo, his work lives in a retro-futurist space shaped by collage, where analog sensibilities carry through digital construction and each composition holds a sense of dislocation, as if time itself has been rearranged. His compositions hold a palpable tension between intimacy and scale, where romance unfolds against dreamlike backdrops.
Mattos told Hyvemind that film plays a defining role in how he constructs that scale and atmosphere, drawing from the stillness and vastness seen in productions like Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey and the emotional architecture of Nolan’s Interstellar, Inception and Dunkirk.
Music shapes the emotional register of the work in less predictable ways, while video games inform his use of landscape and surreal environments as immersive spaces.
Certain motifs return with intention. Couples appear often, rooted in his own relationship, which remains closely intertwined with the work itself—an ongoing collaboration that shapes decisions, direction and tone. Stars, planets and the moon recur across many of his compositions, grounding the work in a space that feels suspended between eras.
In the conversation that follows, Mattos reflects on how these influences and personal references converge into a body of work that continues to circulate widely, carrying fragments of his interior world into the lives of others.
Hyvemind: Hi Roger! Welcome. Introduce yourself and let us know a bit about who you are and what you create.
RM: My name is Roger Mattos, I'm Brazilian and currently based in São Paulo.
I'm a visual artist. I started with hand-made collage, then moved into mixed media combining physical and digital work, and eventually into fully digital collage and illustration. I even explored some 3D along the way.
Professionally, I create cover artwork for musicians, bands, brands, and creatives, and I've been living entirely from my art since 2019.
My work lives in a retro-futurist space, with a strong vintage and cosmic influence.
Playing with The Void
HM: How long have you been creating? How did you arrive at this stage of your artistic career?
RM: I've always been a creative person, but I didn't really put it into practice until 2018, when I was around 22. I briefly explored oil painting, but I truly fell in love with collage during a strange and uncertain period of my life. In 2019, I sold everything I had and moved to another state, staying with my sister while searching for work and waiting for a new idea or opportunity to show up. I practiced collage as a hobby during that time.
Eventually I started documenting it online. I created an Instagram account and began mixing physical and digital collages, building things straight from my phone. I was just posting experiments, still without a defined style or theme. Then one day, someone from another country reached out asking if one of my pieces was available. They wanted to use it for a music project. That was the moment I realized there was a market, and a real career path.
From there, I switched my Instagram from Portuguese to English, updated my bio, studied the algorithm, and kept posting. I had a few scattered clients here and there, nothing major, and I honestly didn't know what to charge back then, so it was all made with love but without much financial intention. Then one piece went viral, broke through the bubble, and that's when the followers, the visibility, the clients, and the fans started coming.
Portal to Mars
HM: What materials do you use and what’s your process?
RM: Today I work exclusively in Adobe Photoshop, for collages, photo manipulations, and illustrations. I used to create 3D pieces in Blender, but I haven't gone back to that in a while.
My process takes a few different shapes. Sometimes I start with a clear idea or reference, gather the materials (photos, vintage illustrations, or things I've drawn myself) and move into composition inside Photoshop.
Other times the idea isn't fully formed yet, and I discover where the piece is taking me as I create it.
There are also moments when I want to tell a story, a fragment of someone's life, or a character or place I've invented. I sometimes have dialogue already forming in my mind, and I like to translate that into art in my own way: open to interpretation, ambiguous.
Even when something has a clear meaning to me, I love watching people bring their own eyes to it.
And sometimes it's pure play, the joy of seeing what happens when you put two unexpected elements together, like cutting up fragments of oil paintings and building something entirely new.
Same Life, Different Lives
HM: What are your inspirations?
RM: When I first started making collages, I drew a lot of inspiration from artists I discovered on Instagram. Many of them became peers over time, and I've exchanged messages with most of them.
In film, two directors stand out the most for me: Kubrick and Nolan. 2001: A Space Odyssey has had a huge influence on me, and Nolan's work, Interstellar, Inception, Dunkirk, speaks to me just as deeply. But I also love old romance films.
Music is interesting because there's often a disconnect between what I'm listening to and what I'm creating. I might be working on a romantic piece while listening to heavy metal, or building something somber while Mozart plays in the background. Either way, music helps me get into a feeling, even when the pairing seems unlikely.
I also find a lot of inspiration in video games, especially landscapes and surreal environments.
Loss Space
HM: What kind of imagery shows up in your work often? what does it symbolize to you, if anything?
RM: A few recurring elements show up consistently. Couples appear a lot. I love creating romantic imagery, and I'm deeply inspired by my own relationship. My girlfriend, my future wife, is one of the most important people in my life and in my career. She's always close to the process, helping me choose between versions, giving direction, shaping the work alongside me.
Animals appear occasionally, but whenever they do, it's always a cat. I have two, Yara and Duque. I love what cats represent to me, and I've always felt they carry a deeper connection to the universe than most other animals.
And then there are stars, planets, and the moon. Beyond their aesthetic beauty and ability to create surreal compositions, these cosmic elements resonate with me on a deeper level.
I often feel like I was born in the wrong era, maybe 40 or 50 years too late, or too early. That's why retro-futurism through cosmic imagery feels so natural to me.
It sits between where we came from and where we're headed.
Soldier
HM: Does your inner emotional state play a role in what you create? If so, can you describe what that’s like?
CM: Absolutely. I wouldn't describe myself as a sad person, but if you look at my work, you'll notice some pieces carry a heavier, more melancholic tone. A sense of loss or longing. I've been through difficult periods. I've lost family members, lost friends. I draw on those feelings, emotions I've already moved through, and use them as creative fuel. It works for me.
The same is true for positive emotions, of course. You can see that in the romantic pieces.
What I've developed over time is the ability to travel through emotional time in my work. I can create something joyful and romantic even when I'm not feeling that in the moment, and I can create something deep and somber even when I'm genuinely happy.
But to get there, I need full concentration. I don't like being interrupted once I've started channeling an idea into a piece. I immerse myself through music, ambient sound, noise-canceling headphones, and on rainy days I skip the headphones entirely and just listen to the rain.
Saturn Love
HM: What’s the intention behind how your work is received by those who see it? What do you hope people feel when they see your work?
RM: I know what happens, because people have told me. I've received messages from people who've been moved by my work, sometimes because it mirrors something they're living through, sometimes because it brings up nostalgia. Sometimes even that strange feeling of nostalgia for something never actually experienced, which is something I feel myself when I finish a piece and look at it for the first time.
I find something meaningful in knowing that I can be in a corner of the world, with almost no one in my own country knowing my name, and still reach people across the globe in a real way.
My intentions vary. Sometimes I want to spark a question with something ambiguous. Sometimes I want to tell a story and have people feel it. Sometimes I just want to show something beautiful, something worth looking at.
Not everything needs to carry a message. But in the end, it always does.
Sonder
HM: What feels important to you right now, and as a community member?
RM: Now more than ever, I think it's important to be creative friends, to collaborate more, build more community projects, and support each other. The world is moving into a new creative era, with tools becoming more accessible and everyday people finding ways to express visual ideas. It's exciting, but also a little frightening.
I think we need to stay grounded. Show the origins. Be part of something real, a creative network where people share ideas, references, and genuinely support one another.
The New Window
HM: What’s next for you? (dreams or plans!)
CM: Looking back at everything since 2019, I feel genuinely proud, and that pride gives me the strength to keep going whenever I hit an obstacle.
I still have big dreams. I want to grow my name into something larger and more recognized. I want to eventually help other people with creative ambitions, share what I've learned about tools, algorithms, and the path I took to get here.
I also imagine Linearcollages® evolving into a creative studio, a collaboration of artists, media, and formats, all under one roof.
For now, my plan is simple: keep moving forward, conquer the world with my name, and keep showing what retro-futurism looks like through the lens of Linearcollages®.
Follow Roger Mattos on IG: @linearcollages
Check out his website: linearcollages.com
And get access to exclusive Wallpapers: linearcollages.com/wallpapers or patreon.com/cw/linearcollages
