collage
The start of a new year brings new creative opportunities. I’ve been getting back into some collage, experimenting with the Gelli Plate to make my own collage material. Exploring colour, texture and mark making has been so fulfilling and given me a deeper connection to my work. I’m intimately involved in the creative process and fostering a sense of personal connection and authenticity in my work. I’m excited about this new direction.
Here are a couple of my favourites so far….
I find it really valuable to experiment with different ideas in my gluebook. I can explore different colour palettes and composition while working fairly quickly.
Due to current circumstances with self-isolation, I thought I’d take the opportunity to get back into some collage. Recently, my focus has been on photographic work but I’ve been feeling the itch to get back to some abstract studies. Here’s the latest one from my glue book.
Well a new year has begun and I’m back into it with some new collage studies. I’m aiming to create a lot more of these in the coming months. It’s great to experiment with smaller works to explore new ideas. I like to work intuitively with these and not overthink it or become to fixated on a particular outcome.
Stay tuned!
Getting back into some mixed media with this piece. Inpsired by the detritus of our urban walls. I've been drawn to working in a mostly monochromatic colour palette with small bursts of colour and torn pieces of type, similar to that of the torn street posters.
I'm going to leave this one for a few days and come back to it for some final touches.
Mixed media on board.
In 2018, I've set myself a goal to create new collages on a weekly basis. By creating parameters to work within, I can explore new techniques and allow for more experimentation in my work. This process allows for idea generation that can be considered further for a larger body of work. This week I've been working with monochromatic colour.
A monochromatic scheme, or palette, starts with a single hue. Any additional colours used in the palette are variations of that specific hue either its shades, tints or tones. The idea here is that there is only one colour.
You’re welcome to use any shade or tint of the colour/hue to create something invigorating instead of a literally a single colour. Black and white is fine to use in monochromatic colour schemes as they themselves are not colours.
Here are some of my experiments using typography from a magazine and a collection of photography using the colour red. It's a fun way to create compositions while also providing an interesting design aesthetic.
Recently I have become very drawn to abstraction and the visual explorations within the urban environment.
I have always been drawn to the simplicity of line and form of architecture and the abstraction found in the relationship between buildings and their surrounds. Typography and street art provide interesting marks and graphic elements that can be combined to create interesting results. The layering of street posters peeling reveal an interesting interplay with type, creating new narratives.
This piece was created using found torn street posters. The technique of collage and decollage were employed to created a balance of colour, texture and type. The challenge with a piece like this is for it to look spontaneous with a strong sense of composition, without overworking it. Below are some progress shots, tweaking until it feels 'finished'. This quote sums it up well...
'Art is never finished, only abandoned' - Leonardo Da Vinci
DETAIL - Mixed media collage using torn street posters
More layering - Mixed media collage using torn street posters
Final tweaks - Mixed media collage using torn street posters
This piece explores abstraction through firstly selecting some of my original photos. I don't set out with a plan of the how the work will look, it's more of an intuitive process of selecting images that speak to me at the time. I then proceed to add and subtract elements of the images by tearing of cutting as needed. In this piece I wanted to introduce some interesting layering by including transparency. Once the composition is complete, I glue it to the substrate and scan to enhance digitally. Some addition textures and minor colour adjustments were made, as seen in the final piece below.
'East' - Digital collage. Started analogue and finished digitally.
I've been feeling very inspired lately. I'm discovering more and more how the various projects I'm working on connect and feed one another. I've been shooting new images consistently and they're providing me with interesting source material for my collage work. I'm drawn to the abstract details that leave clues about time passed and the juxtapositions created when layers are peeled back.
Using various elements from my photography, I'm drawing inspiration from torn posters and the typography found on the street walls. I'm interested in recreating the layering, hiding and revealing what appears beneath. Equally, I'm intrigued by the role that typography plays when its no longer legible and becomes celebrated for its form rather than function. Aesthetically I'm drawn to the abstraction of the letters, textures, and how these ordinary, everyday elements come together to create an exciting composition.
8 x 8" mixed-media collage on canvas
Details - 8 x 8" mixed-media collage on canvas
8 x 8" mixed-media collage on canvas
In recent months, I've been focusing predominantly on various photography projects. I've been really looking forward to getting back into some collage, so I decided to start a new abstract series. Lately, I've found myself really drawn to the potential of working in this way. Using my original photography as source material, I'm combining colour, texture and type to create layered compositions. Below are some work in progress shots.
I have been experimenting with some hand made diagonal collages. The idea with these is that you pair images that look like they belong together. Some are visually matched with their content, while others are paired in a more conceptual way. I really enjoyed the process of exploring the new meanings that are created when the images are recontextualised.
I've just recently started an online course learning new techniques in mixed media collage. The course is run by Randel Plowman who's known for his amazing blog, 'A Collage a Day'. I'm excited to expand my skills and make more work by hand, a new direction I've been wanting to take in my work.
We started off with some quick 5 minute collages using our preference of source imagery. I used a combination of magazine clippings and some printed textures. It was challenging being restricted with time but I enjoyed the intuitive way of working with these. I'm pleased with the results.
After starting my 'Urban Fragments' photo series, I've been finding inspiration from the streets. I'm particularly drawn to the torn street posters for their texture and typography. I like the idea of taking sections of type and joining them together in a new way. With more of a focus of composition than legibility, I enjoy moving the pieces around with my hands until I find a pleasing result. This one is a work in progress, using pieces of torn street posters. I will now scan this in to refine digitally, ready for prints.
Here are the latest landscapes from my my 'Urban Fragments' series, capturing Melbourne abstract and up-close. I'm engaging with the streets around me with a fresh perspective and framing these small details that draw my eye on a daily basis.
These street walls are in themselves a canvas for texture, typography and photography to be revealed in abstract and interesting ways. It's the smaller details we are surrounded with and the beauty in the ordinary that I'm celebrating with these images. They have a strong focus on composition and typography and by cropping a small section and creating an abstraction, a new narrative can be created. More to come, stay tuned...
Here's new a collage I've just completed. I enjoyed being playful with this one and allowed it to form it's own composition. Like most pieces, I choose one hero image and work from there. I approached this one a little differently in that I used more images and introduced some typography with a simpler background. I hope you enjoy!
