“The truly creative mind in any field is no more than this: A human creature born abnormally, inhumanly sensitive. To him... a touch is a blow, a sound is a noise, a misfortune is a tragedy, a joy is an ecstasy, a friend is a lover, a lover is a god, and failure is death. Add to this cruelly delicate organism the overpowering necessity to create, create, create -- so that without the creating of music or poetry or books or buildings or something of meaning, his very breath is cut off from him. He must create, must pour out creation. By some strange, unknown, inward urgency he is not really alive unless he is creating.”
― Pearl S. Buck
The latest collage news and inspiration!
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NEWS
WORKSHOP: our next collage-as-therapy workshop in collaboration with Art Therapy Lab by Art Therapist Julia Volonts will take place on Monday (instead of Sunday, a little concession to summer being in full swing), July 10th at 18:00 CET / 12:00 EST, and is as always free to attend. More information below…
Liger-Belair augments found photographs, historical portraits, botanicals, and patterned papers with a range of drawing media. During the pandemic, when quarantines enforced boundaries between interior spaces and the outside world, she started to consider what it means to do or show something “on the inside.” - In Surreal Collages, Julie Liger-Belair Explores Home, Interiority, and the Terrain of Dreams - via Colossal
Deniz Miller, 31, is one such art consultant. She says creating the work that adorns the walls of retirement homes and taking direction from the interior designer of a highway hotel is actually a pretty good job, though you have to develop a thick skin. The hours are regular, the pay at her firm is decent, and it’s blissfully stable work for someone with two fine-art degrees. Plus she really does like making art. But the occasional absurdity of reverse-engineering a piece based on a brand’s specifications or designing a wall-size “Instagrammable moment” to be appraised by a room full of corporate heads isn’t entirely lost on her. “I sold my soul to the art industry,” she says. “But Warhol would be proud.” - ‘I Sold My Soul, But Warhol Would Be Proud’ - via Curbed
In his latest body of work, on view until 22 July at Jessica Silverman in San Francisco, the American artist Jeffrey Gibson explores the collage medium through the lens of his Cherokee and Choctaw heritage. - American artist Jeffrey Gibson explores the fractured history of Native peoples - via Wallpaper
One series of linked works in Maliza Kiasuwa’s “Art as a Weapon” begins with a photograph of an African mask whose outline and basic features are then distilled into cut-paper collages. The origins of the other assemblages in the Morton Fine Art show are not always so clear, but the pieces usually include recognizable forms or items - In the galleries: Retrospective explodes with color, feeling and humor - via The Washington Post
If you stop by Oeno Vino wine shop and lounge on a Saturday afternoon, downstairs you’ll find a group of adults doing a three-hour wellness activity rooted in being present. The twist? There are no woosahs or yoga mats. However, there is wine available at this Atwater Village bar, along with the main entrée of the meetup: magazine collaging - How this L.A. collage club is using DIY art for collective self-care - via Los Angeles Times
PCC: A selection of challenge submissions from last week is up on our website and can be seen here, the image prompt for next week is available to download here
FROM THE ARTIST DIRECTORY - OLD & NEW
NELLY SANCHEZ
My style is a touch of humor on a black background with a red mouth. I present a sensual and disturbing univers that questions the female and male archetypes conveyed by society.
I have a PhD in literature, specializing in female French writers. As collagiste, I’m self-taught. For nearly fifteen years I have been a collagist. I’ve been feeding from my artistic discoveries, and my readings. My artwork echoes my literary research.
I am influenced by surrealist painters like Leonora Carrington, Yves Tanguy, and Frida Khalo, and recently by Russian supremacists and their geometric conceptions, and also Valentine Penrose and Unika Zürn.
More here
HARRIET MOUTSOPOULOS
Australian born and bred, I am a collage artist who works under the name Lexicon Love.
I simply love the idea of being able to renegotiate and manipulate the origins of an image through the medium of collage art. Ultimately it’s the way in which collage art challenges traditional notions of aesthetics, which I find most appealing.
I am drawn to the surreal and unsettling and try to inject that into my work where possible, always seeking out the unexpected connections between humour and tragedy. At first glance, the elements of humour and tragedy don’t seem to go together, yet they are so absolutely inseparable. Their relationship is complicated and one cannot survive without the other. It is in combining the two that true magic begins.
I often combine food with portraits. On the surface, this absurd combination appears to reject any sense of reason (an extension of my own twisted sense of humour). However, obscuring the faces of my portraits with food is designed to not only challenge traditional notions of beauty, but also to provoke, tease and confuse the observer.
I don’t set out to control the outcome of any piece but rather I want the observer to empathise with the subject through subtle suggestion.
By concealing the faces, I remove any distraction and invite the observer to slow down and join the dots in order to seek out the hidden. I guess the real power of the final composition is what can’t be seen. At this point the observer holds all the power and the artist none!
Although my mental approach is analogue, my physical techniques are digital. The most significant challenge for me is giving each artwork the slight imperfections of hand and the general look and feel of being made entirely from traditional analogue practises.
To achieve this I do not use any sophisticated software such as Photoshop or Illustrator. Instead, my tools of choice are simple and closely mimic analogue techniques. It’s like working with your hands in the traditional sense.
Remixing the old with the new to create new truths, I organise and reorganise until it ‘feels right’.
More here
MARTHA ANDREATOS
I came to art later in life. A creative passion came over me about the same time I became an empty nester. Art filled a void in my life, and has since helped me through cancer, chronic pain, and autoimmune disease. I never had a chance to pursue a formal art degree, so my art education came from community art classes, books, and self-discovery. Because of my background, I feel I can relate to others who want to create art but don’t have time for a formal degree. As an artist, I bring my life experiences and passion to my work. I love using discarded and recycled objects to see how each item blossoms into a new creation. That is why love collage and mixed media so much.
More here
JENNIFER GATZ
I enjoy arranging things. Always have. Furniture in a dollhouse, junk in a drawer, words on a page. Surprisingly, my approach to collage is not organized or predictable. Starting with a word or image for inspiration, I rely on intuition as I select, cut, arrange, and paste found materials to create something new. Order from chaos. Working without a plan pushes me beyond my comfort zone. Collage gives me the courage to embrace the winds of unpredictability.
My work is about composition, color and the relationship of images that come together to offer a story or capture a mood. The title of the piece is also part of the narrative. Creating art is a gift that allows me to communicate across language barriers. Sharing my hopes and hurts, joys and fears, I engage in a visual conversation that builds relationships. My intention is to create a moment so viewers can enter another world to smile, connect and wonder. Art heals my soul and I hope that it brings some peace to yours.
More here
If you have any news about exhibitions, publications or events you want so share with the community, please send an email with all relevant information and at least one link to a website or venue to: hello@pariscollagecollective.com