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Saturday, August 22, 2015

Collage - A Challenging Artform


I'm back. Life does take some difficult turns and the past two years have been tough. I'm enjoying creating again, but with constraints. Collage. You work within the limits of the materials you choose, especially with regard to texture, colour, line and shape. It's wonderful, and wonderfully frustrating. For an anal retentive/obsessive compulsive person like myself, this forces me to make decisions quickly and to do what is needed to make something work. So far I have 5, and one in collaboration with another artist, S. Pakosh. I find these tremendously gratifying and seriously addictive. When I get settled, I'll take and post pictures of the processes of future pieces as well.

The start:
start


The finished piece:

Cravings
Collage is experiencing an incredible surge in popularity; it resonates with the viewer on so many levels, regardless of the approach, perhaps for several reasons.

  1. Our recycle/upcycle generation loves the idea of items that would ordinarily be discarded finding purpose again.
  2. There is a bit of grittiness due to the fact that edges are torn and some are cut and the piece is glued down. Paper doesn't glue down seamlessly, usually. Bubbles, creases, frayed edges, all attain interest beyond their surface appeal.
  3. Gluing, cutting, tearing all evoke memories of childhood, a time when societal constraints did not dictate our perceptions of our talents; a time when we were brilliant in our own estimations.
  4. Some materials used harken back to a simpler time, with memories of a world that was less stressful.
  5. For all of the above reasons, the mark of the artist is always present, along with, often, a hint of a fingerprint! Collage is not made solely with a brush! It is a tactile process and the viewer is given a front row seat to the hands-on efforts of the artist.
I would love to hear your thoughts on this.

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