I have touched briefly on my first encounter of collage in my Reflective Journal. I will define it again:
Collage is the technique and resulting art work involving pieces of mixed media eg paper, photographs, fabric and other bits are arranged and stuck down on a supporting surface.
Collage comes from the French word "coller" meaning "to glue".
I did find the right glue, glue spreaders and brown paper very useful to create my collages.
Collages can be:
Digital or
Paper
Or use processes to create the pieces of the collage eg the work of Russel Mills.
There can be many techniques employed to make a collage. These include cutting the image in half ( and then sticking on at an altered angle), using grids on top, squares or spirograph etchings to name but a very few. I used a stencil to make feathers floating like leaves and clouds....on paper I used a white (posca) acrylic paint pen - when I transferred the design to my pot I used the stencil to sgraffito through with quite good success. I have also used sgraffito to transfer a pattern on a fabric used in my collage to my pot ( for tropical rainforest). I will be looking at more patterned fabric materials, including a visit to the Hepworth to see Aliyah's installation, with her massive fabric printed curtain she has produced. Recently I had another visit to Blackwell, the Arts and Crafts House, where I have photographed the fabrics on display as wall hangings and interesting patterns in the rest of the architecture.
Below- fabrics at Blackwell.
Photos, photocopies, painting, prints, magazine photo cut-outs and words are all equally suitable for a collage. I am beginning to see how visual art is 'married' to words to be in a title, happenstance, and deliberate words appearing in magazine cut outs on a collage, or campain art where words inform. Then there is how the words are written - handwritten, decals or stencils, stamps, upper or lower case, font.
Banksy's work is an example of words. I found that this art piece relies entirely on words. From facebook:
Collages use the imagination, almost dream-like. Lots of album covers use collage. I am
using it on a suggestion from Rob and affirmation from Aliyah, as a start point, after researching the issue I hope to present, to inform my work. I must admit it has been a revelation, definitely a powerful process in its own right. And I enjoyed a glimpse of happenstance.
The definition of Happenstance:
Chance or a chance situation, especially one producing a good result.
Aliyah leant me a book, "Cut That Out" by Dr ME - Contemporary collage in Graphic Design, by Thames and Hudson.
Aliyah's work is multidisciplinary across the Arts. She is featured in this book, and won the Google Photography Award in 2009.
I enjoy taking photographs, though I would not call myself a photographer. My friend and fellow artist, Christine Hurford, who is now studying for her MA in Creative Practice at University of Cumbria, recently had a photographic exhibition from her photos over the last ten years. I enjoyed this a lot, she photoshops the final photos and used limited colours. I think this could be useful as a tool for collage? She likes themes of decay and dereliction.
These last two are more modern and urban. An old paint shed..
Christine's photography raises the question, is this just looking backwards in time? My project is related to how to try and protect ( the planet ) for the future. Does Art look backwards or forwards or both. Are these separate subjects?
Recently I visited the Arabian Stud where I used to work in the 90's and took a photo of the Alsatian guard dog's shed, now disintegrating quietly. I looked after Jetty while I was there -my only experience of owning a dog.
This is 'Full Worm Moon' by Aliyah Hussain from the book 'Cut That Out'
'Full Worm Moon', (above and below).
This is (almost) sci-fi, with worms on the moon. This raises lots of questions, I think this is why I like collage so much, it has multiple interpretations, and can send 'mixed messages'. Not all of us are crystal clear all the time.
In this the sci-fi worms on the moon, maybe they could be real on another planet. All life started with worm-like life in the primordial mud. No one actually knows what space worms look like. The repeating pattern could almost be falling snowflakes or falling worm flakes. Adds an element of hardship, as winter a hard time for many animals ( and humans now). The orbs have patches of green 'life' and blue 'sky' like planet earth. Is there life on another planet...one thing is for sure - no-one knows what it looks like!
I think Aliyah's work is optimistic with simple shapes and something 'safe' in her work, maybe because it has a throw-back to childhood with the shapes and colours. I find it nostalgic.
I also am enjoying the 'Sleep of Plants' soundtrack on Band Camp. I find the 'hum' of the plants very soothing, the underground sound of life. It could be the common soundtrack of life on another planet. Maybe a bit 'urban' too.
Anna Beam
The above is titled "Lakeside". The pattern is like ripples in the water. The fragments are fragments of activity ( orange areas ) and the green areas are some plant life.
Anna Beam likes the 'improvisation' in the collage making process. I can relate to improvisation. Having more than one place of work, often the tools I need are in another place! I have to improvise.
From looking at the beginning of this book, I view collage as a 'happy' medium. There is more darker stuff later.
"You may have the most mundane everyday image but when it is put together with something else that conflicts with it, the result is almost other worldly".
Untitled - Anna Beam
Atelier Bingo
Collages used a lot in Poster Art eg Album Covers. She likes the use of printed paper - I do too.
Beth Hoeckel
Her work is about losing touch with reality...getting lost in a daydream. Escapism, better for mood, and more important, in this modern world. For example, not watching the news back to back on the TV, though I must say this sometimes can be grounding.
This image shows the realities of this world, yet is surreal. What is reality?!
I really like Beth Hoeckel's work. It could be interpreted as people's response to nature. This is also mixing past (way people dressed ) with future, maybe living on another planet. Her work has lots of interpretations, with a nod to wellbeing.
I had my first decals done about 5 years ago, the only time until very recently. The photos were of my Mum and Dad in Africa in the 1950's. Maybe its the way the people are dressed on these collages, and the reference to nature and the past and the future. Dad was looking at the freshwater biology of the lakes in Africa, which would hopefully bring better understanding of these ecosystems for the future generations. Mum was a very 'modern' woman in the 50's. She was, in fact, the first Icelandic woman to get a PhD in Science.
Collage can document people's response to nature. Collage uses images, not just torn pieces of paper. I can see I am trying to get a message across with words too- then does it become graphic design? Digital collage versus hand-made.
Cameron Searcy
He remarks "So sometimes collage is a kind of crutch, but I think it also gives the work its own character. It is a way of drawing and seeing in its own right".
Collage is "very upfront about borrowing good ideas from surprising places".
There are a lot of complicated collages in the book, 'Cut That Out'. I think it is good for me to try and interpret them!
"I like the limitations and only working with what you have to hand". I think there is a lot to be said about this statement. In todays world of rising prices, we need to use what we actually have, to a certain extent ( maybe not on the Masters!), I think this chosen 'resource poverty' is something I will implement after the Masters degree, mainly due to cost of buying in new materials. I think this material thriftiness and inventiveness could add a new dimension to work.
Hisham Akira Bharoocha
In this collage I notice the use of single coloured paper shapes. He uses spray painted leaves. An idea for making specific shapes eg leaves, flowers, stars, flood of ?
I have incorporated single coloured paper torn pieces in my collages, this paper came from an art supplier. I like the idea of spray painting and stencils, and then tearing up this paper to use on the collage. As well as enjoying colour, I like the black and white (photos, drawings) I have used.
He says "People's minds are wired in all different ways".
I will now look at a couple of artists who are 'Constructivists'. They use processes, often chemical to produce pieces to put on their canvass.
Russell Mills
Russell has done a lot of work for exhibitions, installations, sound installations ( he is a sound artist as well), album covers, probably the most well known are the album covers for Nine Inch Nails. He also is an authority on Kurt Schwitters ( who I will touch on in another blog).
His videos on U tube are fascinating and informative of his thought processes behind as well. He looks for traces of something that has happened in the space he is working in or about.
'Cargo in the Blood'. This refers to something carried in the blood ( disease, substances, Life?) . It is destructive yet positive. Hair lives on after our bodies die, our DNA is carried in it.
I find Russell's theories affirming and obviously coming from a lot of thought and contemplation:
He says " Action is born out of Reaction". There is flux in the natural world. The process of the collage mirrors natural world processes.
The chaos in nature - we impose order.
Happenstance - chance or a chance encounter.
The nature of nature is a model for moral thinking and a way of living. I like the parallel he draws between the natural world and morals.
He quotes Ruskin on the "Law of Help", co-operation is far better than isolation. Ruskin was one of the first Environmentalists.
We seem to need control and measuring, versus natural chaos. I found his work mind blowing, eg 'a world in every square', the videos are well worth a watch.
Castlefield Gallery (Manchester)
This is one of my favourite Galleries, which my friend, Soo, and I stumbled across a couple of years ago. It is very handy to get to from the tram without a lot of walking, with a great coffee shop nearby under the railway.
This time the exhibition which was on was "40 Years of the Future". This was by constructivists, Jo McGonial and Sir Frank Bowling OBE RA. It was a mixture of constructed collages and and industrial/urban/metal sculptures.
This collage was "Sasha's Green Bag" (1988), by Frank Bowling.
in brief I think it looks like muddled, just like a ladies bag, with compartments.
The above two photos are "What Else Can You put in a Judd Box" (2022) - welded steel. Judd was a painter then moved to making boxes amongst other furniture and installations (1960s onwards). If I lack interpretation, the photos do show Constructivism well!
I thought this one above was great..It is titled "The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat"(1988)
This has lots of interpretations, not least humerous ones!
This one is called " Sentinel"(1976) by Frank Bowling. This piece has a serious overtone. The date of the piece is also important to its interpretation, as time marches on. However I find Frank's work quite playful as whole body of work.
Lastly I include my four collages to date. For my project I am looking into man's negative impact on animals, involving factors producing this (environmental), and habitat and species diversity loss. All factors we need to reverse for a healthy existing planet.
My first collage was about the Island of Borneo and the diminishing Orangutan population which it still manages to support in spite of habitat (tropical rainforest) loss for farming mainly palm oil and illegal logging. The illegal wildlife trade has also become a significant problem.
My collage sets out to highlight this habitat loss, the beauty and wisdom of these primates (who share a lot of DNA with humans), and the need for ongoing rescue and rehabilitation, leading to rerelease into the wild if possible and appropriate. International Animal Rescue are among a few organisations and charities involved with this. Thank goodness for these people!
The above was my first attempt at arranging cut outs and images on acetates on a piece of paper to produce a collage. It is clearly unfinished and a very rough first draught. I wanted the elements to be moveable, but in the collage below, I took up suggestions, no more square photos and I have covered ground with torn pieces...even seeing happenstance occur with the words in the ocean!
Here is another orangutan collage, and the pots that resulted from these two collages. I am trying decals really for the first time after an initial attempt some years ago. Hopefully will be great to see them come out of the final firing next week.
Aliyah suggested drawing in brush and ink from some photos of orangutans, as I haven't actually been able to see them in a zoo or wildlife park.
These are my drawings:
And the resulting pots:
This platter is made with earthenware grogged clay (ES 60 )scarva. I am exploring different ways of making a border. I do like this torn effect with the grogged clay. The drawings are quite considered, with a contrast with the edges which are quite immediate. Honey glaze was used.
This cylinder is sgraffito on a white clay body ( special white stoneware - 157-1142). I found this clay holds its shape well on a big cylinder. The slips were brushed on, not poured like with the platters. I found this type of sgraffito process enjoyable and quite forgiving as to any mistakes! The new things about this vase were the use of black and white drawings ( suggested by Rob) and the use of a material ( and the collage itself) to inform my work. This, in turn, was generated from research into the conservation issues with orangutans and Borneo ( documented in my Conservation Folder, and mentioned elsewhere in my work ). Basically habitat loss, from palm oil plantations and illegal logging are destroying the orangutans' home. Increasingly in this modern world, rescue and rehabilitation are becoming more and more important with dwindling species numbers. The rescues (mainly charities) also are trying to tackle root causes such as poverty and corporation greed as well as the illegal wildlife trade.
I liked the inclusion of fabric in the collage and will be looking into this further.
This is a photo of Borneo's ( and the worlds) largest flower. It flowers once every 7years and its flower has the smell of rotting flesh! There are also giant waterlilies in Borneo.
These are decorated with decals made from my brush and ink drawings. Last Man of the Forest 1 and 2.
I've added a couple of orangutan pictures...
I have made this pot in black stoneware clay - PF680, with blue slip and the Uclan titanium white stoneware glaze with a decal of Borneo and key to show areas shaded. The clay/slip/glaze combination I came across from my tests this summer.
I think happenstance occurred here as the muted colours ( as they appeared before final firing) seemed to match the colours of the original pot well. It will be interesting to see how it turns out.
The second conservation issue I have tackled with a collage informing my work, is the use of wildlife camera traps. These are employed to monitor wildlife whereabouts, numbers, and provide information of the animals' movement with a view to ranger surveillance, which is difficult in more remote areas like the Himalayas. Actually in these remote areas with endangered species, camera traps are really the only way of knowing that the animals are still there!
I have taken the snow leopard which lives in the Himalayas, Tibet, northern India and Myanmar and into Russia and China. There are about 5000 Snow Leopards left in the wild. Again habitat loss, the illegal wildlife trade ( killed for its skin and traditional medicine ) and poverty with man/animal direct conflict has had a part in its decline in numbers. However it has just been upgraded from Endangered to Vulnerable.
I was very taken with the story that has happened with Tibetan poachers turned rangers. These people, mainly poor villagers, were sent as part of their punishment to a Tibetan temple to spend some time there. These ex-poachers have received enlightenment and after their time there was over, they are saying they really regret killing the animals. So they have been given positions as rangers, now that they have seen the light.
I thought this was so wonderful, and completely on the button, that my 'Guardians of the Himalayas' vase depicts this story. I have more research to do on the animal gods of these temples.
I am using a new tool of a feather stencil, which actually works well with the sgraffito process! This is my way of depicting the dreamy clouds and high up atmosphere in the Himalayas, also redemption and forgiveness floating down, blown on the breeze.
My second leopard collage is about the camera traps specifically. The story has a funny twist in that a small black cat has been 'visiting' and seeing me work. The collage asks, 'Where have you been?'
The work informed by this collage is yet to be decorated!
The above is the platter I have chosen, with the new process of adding a border. The border was extruded at Uclan with the help of Rob, and I have implemented Aliya's suggestion of cutting into the border a bit, partly because of weight of clay at the edges possibly causing it to flop.
I will bisque fire this week. I plan to decorate on tin glaze, maiolica process, with a freehand drawing corresponding to this collage.
This piece also has a different extuded border ( made with a different dye ) and is starting of my new research into conservation and man/animal conflict in rhinos. I have drawn rhinos at the Lakes Safari Zoo on a number of occasions. Sadly the zoo is closing, I saw obvious issues while I was there.
I haven't had time to make another collage for this piece so I have used sgraffito to highlight the questions:
'Are Zoos Useful?'
'Are Zoos Working?'
'Is There Time?'
I did some drawings after some research on the prospects of captive breeding and releasing/ monitoring in the wild or in protected reserves. The gene pool of British housed rhinos in zoos and parks has dramatically had its options reduced, as with Brexit it has proved no longer possible/viable to send rhinos into Europe to mate with other captive rhinos.
There are conservation programs in South Africa, poaching is the main problem. 2000 rhinos owned on a private estate, taking horns using anaesthesia when the animals were dehorned every 3 years to deter poachers. However the market has gone out of 'legal' rhino horn with new laws and the owner of the reserve is giving up the rhinos. African Parks has taken the 'rescue' of these 2000 rhinos on. This will be a 10yr project to rehome and monitor.
There is reference to the Doomsday Clock, which is currently set at 90 seconds to midnight!
The process of transferring images (generated by shrinking my drawings on a photocopier), then marking through using indent marks made by the back of a paintbrush.
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