When I heard we would be doing a collage project, I was excited because I do collage work in my free time. My inspiration for this project were the many scraps I’ve collected over the years that have been piling up in my closet; Two pieces in particular I’ve been meaning to use are the floral wallpaper seen in the background of my collage, and the fabric which came from an old book filled with aged textiles. Other materials I used were cut out magazine images, scraps from the St. Eds Art building, seashells, buttons, marbles, and markers. I used a mix of modge podge and water along with hot glue to apply my material to the canvas (13” x 19” sheet of photo paper). For my hand-drawn element of this project, I sketched a little victorian mansion for the top right corner, altered photo tones with green marker, and drew in a few vines.

I really liked the vintage feel of the two materials mentioned earlier, so I tried to further emphasize that feeling through the entire piece. I chose to include images that felt old, nostalgic and maybe even a little unsettling to make the viewer feel like they were looking at something from the past, like artwork left behind in an antique shop. Overall, I’m happy with how this piece turned out, from the colors, to the material, to the emotions evoked.

For our first main project in Drawing in Space, we explored atmospheric perspective. The inspiration for my drawing came from my camera roll- There’s a specific photo in my favorites I’ve always wanted to recreate, and I knew this would be the perfect opportunity. The scene is an abandoned school I photographed in the beginning of 2020, and the eerie fogginess of the scene really contributes to the “atmospheric” component of the project.

I started by importing the photo into a digital art program called Procreate, then I drafted the vanishing points and eye line on top of the image. Once I had a good grasp of the overall composition, I cut a sheet of tan paper down to 15”x 20” and began drawing the lines with graphite in estimated locations. I then drew basic figures like the ceiling tiles, wiring and chairs, and decided to add some imaginary plants in the foreground to emphasize perspective and frame the scene. I continued to refine figures, then slowly built up shading/highlights with graphite and white charcoal. 

If I could change anything about the final outcome of my piece, I would continue to push the contrast (which I worked on after critique) and maybe explore media outside of charcoal that can blend easily without bringing out too much of the paper texture. Overall, I’m satisfied with how this piece turned out. Success!

Wangechi Mutu is a collage artist born in Kenya. Her work contains many subjects, from plants and animals, to the female body, to the industrial and the natural world- Within her work is a narration of how all these different subjects work together to make the world flow. Here is a quote from one of her interviews that I feel perfectly captures an important main theme in her work:

“I’m trying to just push up the volume on how incredibly important every single plant, and animal, and human is in keeping us all alive and afloat.”

https://art21.org/artist/wangechi-mutu/

Another topic explored in Wangechi’s work is the relationship between her Kenyan roots (she was born and raised in Nairobi) and characteristics of the western world. Through works like Ghouls on my Back Celebrate Murder (see below), Wangechi explores preconceptions made about African culture within the western world, and the overall impacts of globalization. She also criticizes colonialism and highlights its irreversible impact on human life through use of unsettling imagery and graphic connotations.

Currently, Wangechi resides in Brooklyn and continues her collage work. In her pieces she uses a variety of mediums including vinyl, mylar, and recycled material. Besides collage, she also practices sculpture, drawing, and digital work. With an education at the Yale School of Art, and her immersive work held in galleries internationally, Wangechi Mutu is a unique, talented artist worth checking out.

David Adey is a multimedia collage artist residing in San Diego, California. He began his career doing graphic design work for highly renowned companies such as Hasbro and Pepsi, and eventually ventured out more towards physical media. Most of his current work revolves around collage and unification of differing parts. He places emphasis on contrast and unification; In his artist’s statement, he explains “An experienced designer learns that the more distinct the elements are from each other, the more effectively they work together. Unity then is not achieved through uniformity but through juxtaposition.” Adey creates juxtaposition within his work by collecting a variety of colors, textures, and shapes, and incorporating them all into a single coherent piece. Another concept explored throughout Adey’s work is the relation between the human body and the digital world, as seen in his works Hide and Gravitational Radius (view below) which tie back to his roots in the world of marketing and consumerism.

Adey’s work has been exhibited in multiple galleries around the globe, including the Minneapolis Institute of Art and the Orange County Museum of Art.

Sources:

https://www.davidadey.com

https://www.pointloma.edu/faculty/david-adey-mfa

https://www.artistaday.com/?p=13285

Hello! My name is Beth Davis and I’m a Sophomore in my second semester at St. Edwards. Creating and implementing art into my world has been consistent throughout my entire life- I enjoy experimenting with all the various possibilities of creation and experiencing as many artistic pursuits as possible. I am an art major most interested in discovering ways to combine different types of media to create something completely unexpected/unfamiliar. Lately I’ve been exploring collage work using recycled material like magazines and old scraps, and I like to follow intuition to create pieces that reflect raw emotion.

Last semester I took a visual studies class that really opened my mind towards experimentation in different types of media like photography and photoshop, which I had never used previously. I have also begun to regularly use digital programs like procreate, which make experimentation super easy and versatile. Overall, I’m looking forward to this semester in Drawing in Space, and I’m excited to continue experimenting with art.