The Importance of Beautiful Materials
Art can be made out of any material and when I teach collage I grab whatever materials are at hand in my studio, or whatever is laying around where I am teaching. This means that I often use magazines, scraps, and leftover papers.
When I was preparing my materials for the workshop I would be giving at the Wyoming Girls School I wanted to bring some very special materials, something different from the usual. It turns out that this was a very important instinct.
The nature of certain magazine images can be very suggestive and can result in artwork about body image, celebrities, and luxury items. I was looking for a different experience for my students and so I brought completely different materials to see how that would affect the project.
This time the students and I spent time looking at the selection of hundreds of colorful papers, handmade Japanese papers, and carefully curated abstract images from beautiful books.
In the middle of one collage exercise a young girl said that she felt guilty using such beautiful papers for her collage. I told her that "I chose the papers specifically because I wanted for her and her classmates to have the best materials". "The materials aren't too good for you" I explained. "You are special and deserve to these lovely materials to make your very special artwork"
When I was preparing my materials for the workshop I would be giving at the Wyoming Girls School I wanted to bring some very special materials, something different from the usual. It turns out that this was a very important instinct.
The nature of certain magazine images can be very suggestive and can result in artwork about body image, celebrities, and luxury items. I was looking for a different experience for my students and so I brought completely different materials to see how that would affect the project.
This time the students and I spent time looking at the selection of hundreds of colorful papers, handmade Japanese papers, and carefully curated abstract images from beautiful books.
In the middle of one collage exercise a young girl said that she felt guilty using such beautiful papers for her collage. I told her that "I chose the papers specifically because I wanted for her and her classmates to have the best materials". "The materials aren't too good for you" I explained. "You are special and deserve to these lovely materials to make your very special artwork"
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