Tuesday, September 23, 2014

A collaged little nest of envies...

Main envelope front - "Incognito" with collaged bits on rusted paper, burned holes...and the dragonfly has crazy eyes...
 
Collage...sounds simple, right?  Just slap some things down with glue and call it art.  Not so easy for a type 4 introverted perfectionist!  Or maybe it really is the gift I received from KCAI...sitting through critique after critique, picking art apart and having mine picked apart as well.  The experience helped me to really look at what I was doing, to consider craftsmanship and to think about how it will be visually received by others.  And that sort of "work ethic" can make collage a challenge.  (As a side note I'd like to add that I really learned minimal "skill" there...but I did learn how to use the ones I had a little better.)

Back of main envelope, rusted paper with buttons sewn on...

But my "ways" started even farther back than art school...my dad was a hard worker and things had to be tight and good and flush.  Anything worth doing was worth doing right, the first time and with the correct tools! And so I invest myself...into everything.  I once pondered making artsy zines with a friend so what did I do?   I searched around for the best bindery stapler made and purchased it before we'd even made a zine!  Just like dad taught me.  When I started playing volleyball in high school, albeit briefly, he bought an Olympic grade net and welded custom poles to hold it up.  But being so "intense" can take it's toll.

 Envelope inside with printed brayer marks, collage bits...and the queen has crazy eyes...

It was impossible for me to just slap these collages together.  As with everything I do, I got serious about it and wanted them to be interesting, somewhat coherent and tight, good, and flush. After choosing bits and pieces that I liked, I started moving them around.  I happened upon a piece of dictionary page that said "incognito" and started thinking about disguises and unreality.  As the pieces fell together, they got odder...and odder...and odder.

 Envelope inside of the last...rusted paper with caterpillar with marionette legs.  He's toting a collaged spirograph bit stitched onto his hand and note he has a crazzzzy eye...

After I got things how I wanted them, I did my thematic stitching and called it art.  Then...just when I thought I was done I realized...they all need to have the same eyes.  Why?!  I don't know! It made sense at midnight.  But adding the crazy painted eyes on each face sealed the deal for me and I finally felt like I'd completed the project.

The final collaged card in the last envelope was based on a piece of paper I'd used as a catchall for other painted projects...then I added flower parts, a dignified man with crazy eyes and a boney hand emerging through a spirograph "portal"...why not?!
 
Collage is a funny thing because unless you have a clear idea of what the end project will be and hunt for the parts, the parts will otherwise choose each other and dictate the "meaning".  I'm not sure I want to hunt for meaning in these pieces beyond the obvious...I'm tired...I'm sleep deprived...and I need a vacation.  If I try to start making sense out of these pieces...I might just go off the deep end, or realize that I already have?!

The next art project...metal, rivers and quotes. 
And last will be...typography, pop-ups and washi tape.

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