These projects explore the different ways I have experienced collage.
This first project utilised old painted sheets of paper provided by the class. I used these to create a series of frogs mainly focusing on simple forms and striking colours. This process expanded my interest into collage.
After completing the frog series, I wanted to expand into a bigger project. As it happens the class was exploring the theme of subversion of joy.
I wanted to explore the depiction of reflecting upon ones life and remembering all the happy moments. This idea had reminded me of El Día Des Los Muertos (The Day of the Dead) a holiday that celebrates family members that have past— a holiday that celebrates their life lived.
This idea was struck with some criticism as it was possibly too heavy; however, I pursued the idea as I had a vision of how I could accomplish this project while sticking to the theme.
Prior to any collage making, I did some deer studies to better understand the anatomy. These studies allowed me to pose the deer in the position I thought would fit the piece best.
Digital Reference
During this process I wasn’t sure what the exact colours would be, as I also got criticism that the project was do dreary when the theme was subversion of joy. As such to get a better understanding of how the final would look, I digitally sketched the project. This allowed me to play with the colours to better understand how I could bring more life to the piece. In the end I went with the colour reference to the right as it better referenced El Día De Los Muertos (The Day of the Dead) and the vibrancy of the festival.
The Collage Process
First step of this project was to paint the paper that would then be cut to make the collage
After the paper was set it was then to paint the background
Taking the reference image and the reference sketches previously done to scale up the drawing to fit the page
To get the backing that the details would sit, I used tracing paper to trace out the drawing of the deer. This process also aided in ensuring the deer was the same size in the reflection.
Once the backings were cut and glued down it was a matter of choosing the coloured sheets and cutting them out and gluing them down.
This process was long and took a while to ensure the pieces were the right shape and positioned how I wanted them.
I would constantly refer back to my digital coloured sketch to understand which colours I wanted where.
After the collage portion was completed, I went through the painting with some glitter to emphasis certain points and also used some markers to add further detail to the florals.
Reflections. Collage. 2020.
Reflections
Individual Project
2020
Reflections is an artwork the explores the emotions experienced when reflecting upon those who have past. Joy, sadness, grief, happiness, melancholy, nostalgia, etc. Referencing El Día Des Los Muertos through the colours and depiction of the deer after it past. This aided in extruding these emotions within the audience.
I depicted the deer to convey the pride and elegance of dying, not wanting it to be dreary or a sad occasion but one to reflect upon their life lived. To highlight this I included the deer’s living version within the reflective waters it stands upon.
I took heavy inspiration from The Alebrijes and their vivid colour palettes, as well as sugar skulls that are often seen during El Día Des Los Muertos celebrations. To further add visual interest I also added glitter, another commonly used material during these celebrations.
The final piece merges these ideas together to express the elegance of dying and reflecting upon those lives with compassion and those bittersweet emotions that emerge when recalling the memories lived. This piece took an extraordinary amount of effort to ensure the message was conveyed and the referenced holiday was respected. I believe the final piece accomplishes all I set out to achieve.
In more recent years, I have been exploring more abstract depictions using collage as the medium to express these elements.
Painting of collage using acrylic and oil paint