Tag: mindmap

Collage Experiments

DemelzaB Leave a comment

When faced with the task of collage-making, my mind was buzzing with ideas. The problem was, I had too many ideas. I decided it was time for a mind map.

After looking at Jelle Martens collages, I thought about using shapes within my own collages. I thought about obscuring my object ‘The Raincoat Girl’. I drew quick sketches to get my ideas down onto paper:

From my artist research, I found I prefer the more simple collage designs. I didn’t want to over-complicate my collages and have them look visually noisy.

I used some magazine images but found it easier to source images from the internet and use my own photos.

Printing photos from my computer also meant I had the option of editing my pictures to suit the artwork and contribute to the message I wanted to create. I could also resize the images and therefore use more creativity. Magazine images can be restrictive but also trigger new ideas due to the spontaneous process of flicking through unknown pages.

All collages are A4 sized.

For this collage, I used images from magazines and my printed out photo of The Raincoat Girl. I tore the paper at the edges to create some texture.
For this collage, I used a photo I took of a brick wall and converted into black and white. I edited the image of my object to make her look more 2D. My concept for this image was mass production of objects.

I used Microsoft Word to edit the photos. For the image of the repeated figure, I clicked ‘Picture Format’ > ‘Artistic Effects’.

I used the outlines of the figures in the previous collage, to give the impression of a mass of face-less figures. The Raincoat Girl stands apart from the others, facing in the opposite direction.

I wanted to use words within a couple of my collages. I wanted to see if words would strengthen the message, compared to a collage where I use no words.

For this collage based on waiting, I used the photo of the 3D collage I made in the previous week. The squashed effect makes her look deflated and bored. I used a photo from the internet of the bus stop. I edited the bus stop image to give it a softer feel and less colour. The red in this collage symbolises the anger that boils under the surface when you have to wait.

For the collage below, I experimented with printing onto sugar paper. I placed pink sugar paper in my printer and printed the black and white photo onto it. I think the sugar paper created a softer looking image. This was what I wanted for the subject of flowers, as petals are soft. In this collage, The Raincoat Girl echoes a flower.

Inspired by John Stezaker, I wanted to dry interesting layering within a collage. In this image, the flowers symbolise the nature of being decorative. This relates to my object, which was manufactured to function as a decoration only.

In my final collage of the day, I used blue card as a backdrop and magazine images in the foreground. The glossiness of the magazine paper complimented the mat quality of the blue card. I wanted to play with the idea of optical illusion. An image that can be viewed in more than 1 way.

Placing the window in place of her heart, symbolises her emotional openness. The brick walls are her emotional boundaries. On the other-hand, we could be looking at a house who has a personality. The feeling of arriving home and feeling like you are being hugged by your house.