Collage Blog Post

 The process of creating collage is incredibly organic and unique. Personally, when I create collage it is very fast, random, and created at the moment. I like the neurotic nature of taking razor blades and slicing into magazines to carve out that one flower from that one perfume ad from 2011 that I really like to then end up not even using it, rather using a conglomerate of text for a meaning I had yet to distinguish. While researching other artists who utilize collage, I found that I really respected and loved some of the complexities in this relatively simple gesture. First and foremost was Ben Lewis Giles, who's understanding and utilization of repetition and attention to detail was captivating. Every single cutout was deliberate and intentional, and the Jarrolds series really captivated that. The whole page was full, not a corner was exposed. It was overwhelming and loud, and it really resonated with me. Another artist that I found while trying to pull inspiration was Nydia Hartono. In contrast to Giles, Hartono's works feel more like a collage than a mural. It is intimate, rough around the edges. There are bright colors, definite cutouts, and though the viewer isn't inundated with information it is still a gripping work. They are all well composed and hold enough information to grasp the viewers' attention and draw them into the piece. I wanted to translate that into my pieces, since the style of my "collage"-ing tends to be more "in-the-moment" or off the cuff than deliberate like Giles. Hartono's style really spoke with me and resonated, utilizing beautiful photography with some pop references or wild pattern. Similarly to Hartono, Jessie Craig's style of collage was very simplistic. She used a lot of repeated images or references, concrete color schemes, yet was as deliberate as Giles in her precise cutouts. In collage, I prefer precise concise cuts. though my work style is haphazard, to say the least, I tend to prefer work that is a little more clean cut or neurotic. I love slaving over a page cutting out tiny flowers, thin lines, cutting out faces of models to leave the image hollow. That is my personal style of collage, so I love looking at work that is different. Craig uses images in a way that creates a vibrant aesthetic, something that you imagine when looking at Brandy Mellvile's Instagram feed of VSCO filters and flowers. Craig also cuts images and reconfigures them to make a new image, which is a concept that is fascinating to me. Its parody and appropriation with an artistic twist- I like that a lot. Unlike Hartono, Craig's works don't outright look like a collage. Some of them do, some of them look surreal and natural. Almost like a scrapbook that was a little too well done. Overall, collage is a unique and immediate form of self-expression that can be done in a variety of ways. Whether one decides to fill up a whole page with cacophonous information or utilize a few repeated images to portray a message is up to the user, and the immediate gratification of a completed work is equally as satisfying.

ARTWORKS



WEBSITES I GOT THE IMAGES FROM:
Ben Lewis Giles: https://benlewisgiles.format.com/6085373-2019#28
Nydia Hartono: https://www.nydia-hartono.com/mood-magazine#4
Jessie Craig: https://jessiecraig.format.com/collage#2