So, I am really into collage. I think it is a pretty cool medium when done right and I have spent a lot of time making collages in my day. During the summer between my freshman and sophomore years at college, I failed to get a summer job, so I spent months sitting on my bedroom floor making endless collages. It became almost like an addiction: I couldn't NOT collage if I had the time. I was happiest when I was surrounded by scissors and tiny paper clippings. I also noticed that over the course of the summer, the way I made collages changed. I started expanding my ideas and taking the images in new directions. I started using the images I found in new ways. It was awesome.
These are collages from that first set I did that summer:
After that, I started getting into the idea of mixed media, that is combining found images with painted elements. My work started shifting in that direction on paper, canvas, wood panel, and found objects (usually found at the Salvation Army). The following are the next incarnations of collage in my life:
The most recent collage style I have been experimenting with is using figure drawings as source material for collage. I carry out a ridiculously elaborate process involving tracing paper, a system of sorting colors and textures I find, and incredibly tedious cutting of tiny puzzle-piece like shapes. The result is worth it:
My drawing and painting professor in college thought this one looked like paint by number porn. Thoughts?
Anywho, I think collage is one of the most exciting things you can do when you do it right! The danger of collage happens when you start using it as a way to avoid drawing or painting. When you start to rely on the found images to create your work for you, that is when it stops being a valuable medium. I know this because I went through some time when I fell into that artistic rut. Some of the best advice I got that helped me through that was to think about why I was attracted to the images I was choosing and figure out how I could express those artistic interests with my own hand and my own voice. The second piece of advice that helped me was simply to trust myself as a painter.
Oh collage, you fickle mistress.
