It's Official, I Have Become A Paper Arts Pimp!

It's official, I'm a collage/mixed media addict. There is no getting past a thrift store without scrounging around the book aisle. There is no visiting a junk/antique store without leaving filthy, loaded up with old, crusty, full of illustrations, books and magazines. There is no visiting Bienville Books without feeling like it's crack for the collage artist. But most of all, there is no table space to be found in my house, without some type of magazine, paint, paper, glue, or work in progress sprawled out everywhere and paper clippings have become our new carpet. I am beside myself with joy and my dear, sweet hubs has begun to suggest a paper arts rehab program. 

And, I must admit, that I am quite guilty of spreading my disease to my parents home, my friend's houses, and my fellow artists bag of tricks. Yes, I am a full, fledged paper arts pimp, that finds her Facebook fanpage and kitchen table much more accommodating than the sketchy street corner. So, to be true to my craft, my disease, my "can't look at a book or magazine the normal way, every again" mantra, I share with you here some of the products of this affliction. I do warn you though, these images may be hazardous to your health. They are known to cause one to stare, and study, and get tantalizing ideas for their own paper arts obsessions, so be fore warned.

Here are two mixed media pieces from my Rejection Letter Series. I found an  old collection of letters from the early 50's, from a writer here in Mobile, who was rejected time and time again. I am using those letters to create these vignettes, which are 4" by 12", in a series of 15. 

I laughed all the way through this piece, "A Royal Flush". As soon as I saw the toilet and paper I knew I had to create this. The only problem was trying to limit my ideas so it wasn't too crowded. I may work this into a "Toilet Bowl Series", which would be pretty hysterical but oh, what fun it would be!

 

Textures on paper are fascinating to me. I decided to play around with some different types, including painted paper and textured wall paper. What started out as a beach house, turned into a work involving architecture, textures, humor, and a profound point that not all neighbors are welcome, hence the expressions on the boys faces. "The New Neighbors" is 11" by 14", collage on paper.

 

My version of "The Ardithian Alice" came about thanks to my inner child. I love, love, love creating whimsical characters that tell a story and celebrating the release of Alice in Wonderland, in my own way, was tons of fun. This is 12" by 12", mixed media on canvas.

Ah, my first attempt at photo transfer and heirloom collage. These are two images of my parents, young in all their glory, and some ephemera from my childhood. The Red Cross letter was sent to my dad in Vietnam telling him of my birth. The map of Hawaii was from their second honeymoon and the little girl is me of course. I won't explain all the details but heirloom collage is something I plan on doing a lot more of.

 This strange little guy is what I call my Exquisite Corpse Doll Project. I start with a head and torso, tape over a section of it, and mail it to an unsuspecting paper addict like myself. They have to add a body part(s), cover up a bit of theirs, and send it back, for a series of four trips through the mail. When all is said and done, I get back a completed Exquisite Corpse, surreal and whimsical, just like the game was meant to be. I will post a separate blog when he is finished.

The Exquisite Corpse Night

(Me in my "Work of Art" art shirt at Exquisite Corpse Night)

When I first was starting out in collage I remember reading an article about the concept called, "Exquisite Corpse", and was fascinated. Andre' Breton, a Surrealist, and a group of other artists decided to start a parlor game, just for fun, by writing phrases on a piece of paper, concealing part of the phrase, and passing it to the next player so they could add to it. At the end of the round, the sentences were shared and they found great humor and appreciation in the fact that they made little to no sense. It was quite thought provoking to them. Eventually they added the use of graphite and began by drawing a head, then the other players would add body parts, but they never saw the completed image until the very end, adding to it's "enigmatic, conceptual nature." 

Here is a link, The Exquisite Corpse , to their group with pictures of the first works from The Exquisite Corpse game. There are some interesting passages to read, to understand the insight into Breton's mind, along with the other Surrealist of that time. I gave this game and concept a good amount of thought after beginning my collage class and chose to try it out with a group of fellow artists that had similar skills, tastes, and senses of humor, because I knew we would all need one. So I, along with Holly Carrigan, Mary Elizabeth Kimbrough, Wayne McNeil, McLeod Turner, Vikki Turner Finch, Lydia Host, and Jami Buck.

Because I wanted to do this game in collage I knew it would take a lot of pieces and preparation, so I asked the other artists to come prepared with a 'head' and an idea for a background. I think by the time we all got together we decided the best course of action would be to wing it and so we did. Although, to be true to the original Exquisite Corpse concept, we would have needed to not see the previous piece of work, we opted for randomly swapping each piece per round. Next time we will add the challenge of keeping each round concealed and I look forward to that added challenge. 

So, after 5 rounds of swapping, cutting, pasting, painting, eating, and laughing our heads off the final pieces were actually quite wonderful. For me, it really wasn't the finished piece that proved the event was successful, it was the whole process, especially the sharing and friendship that made the night unforgettable. Here are our finished Exquisite Corpses, dressed in their grandeur! Now that we have begun this adventure I can't wait to see what our "collective minds" come up with for the next EC! Stay tuned.