Paul Rousso

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About the artwork

"Cash Crunch" by Paul Rousso is a monumental and technologically advanced artwork that immerses viewers in a three-dimensional exploration of cash currencies from across the globe. Rousso's visionary perspective sheds light on the imminent disappearance of physical money, making his installation all the more profound. With its immense size and meticulous craftsmanship, the artwork invites contemplation on the transformative power of technology and the inevitable shift towards a digital economy. Through the innovative use of high-tech elements, Rousso's creation challenges our perceptions of traditional currency, urging us to reflect on the fleeting nature of physical money in an increasingly digitized world.

About the artist

American artist Paul Rousso transforms the fleeting into the monumental. Renowned for his hyperreal, oversized sculptures of crumpled currency, candy wrappers, newspapers, and glossy magazine pages, Rousso interrogates our relationship with media, materialism, and memory. His works playfully immortalize what is typically tossed aside—objects meant to be consumed and forgotten—elevating them into timeless icons of contemporary culture. Rousso’s practice draws from a diverse background in scenic design, digital manipulation, and commercial art direction, all of which converge in his meticulously crafted sculptures.

Through a proprietary process of heat infusion on plexiglass and other materials, he sculpts paper-thin forms that mimic real-life textures with startling accuracy. The result is artwork that is both technically impressive and conceptually resonant—wrinkled banknotes and discarded ads become touchpoints for nostalgia, identity, and cultural commentary. Influenced by Pop Art masters like Lichtenstein and Warhol, as well as the fantastical stylings of Dr. Seuss, Rousso infuses his work with wit, color, and scale. But beneath the playful surface lies a quiet urgency: a meditation on the impermanence of media in a world where physical print is vanishing.

By preserving these ephemeral artifacts in larger-than-life form, he invites viewers to pause, reflect, and consider what we value—and what we throw away.