http://fluxwurx.com/jstudio/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Collage-Technique.pdf
(Marianna Schmidt's collage art)
Of Marianna Schmidt's many practices -- painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, photography and collage -- it is collage that seems most descriptive of the workings of her psyche. She is an inveterate collector of discarded images and objects -- scraps of man - made and organic garbage, reproductions clipped out of magazines, newspapers and advertising brochures -- which she incorporates directly, or indirectly, into her work. Through these disjunct elements and her images of distorted, fragmented little figures, isolated in barren landscapes or huddled in unwelcoming rooms, she expresses the personal losses and cultural displacements that have conditioned her life.
Of Hungarian and Huguenot descent, Schmidt was born in 1918 in the city of Nagybecskerek. As a young girl, she moved with her family to a rural area of southern Hungary from which she fled during World War II after the Russians occupied Budapest. She emigrated to Canada in the early 1950s, after living as a displaced person in Austria, Germany and England, and eventually settled in Vancouver. While attending the Vancouver School of Art, she supported herself as a laboratory technician. For many years after her 1965 graduation she led a double life, making art during the day and working the night shift at Vancouver General Hospital. Which is not to say that she functioned as an amateur: She exhibited drawings, prints and sculptures internationally, won prizes and critical acclaim, and was collected by major galleries in Canada, the United States, South America and Australia.
Schmidt's retirement from lab work in 1984 freed her to make art full time, something she does at a battered little table in a run - down apartment. (She appears completely indifferent to the unloveliness of her surroundings.) Her spiky, neo - expressionist, mixed media works of the eighties have evolved into sleek and seamless collages, yet her solitary figures and surreal juxtapositions are still informed by angst and alienation.
Recently, Schmidt has been using her collages as the basis for a series of colour xerographs, which bring together the lively work of the artist's hand and the hand - obliterating peculiarities of the machine. Paradoxically, the disruptions which characterize collage are integrated and harmonized by the photocopying process: all comes together on a chromatically and spatially unified plane. Hers is a weird welding of disjunction and synthesis -- the refugee's adaptation to the mechanics of the time if not the place. To now, if not to here.
This info i got from
Laurence, R. (1996). (Marianna Schmidt's collage art). In R.
Laurence, (Marianna Schmidt's collage art) (p. 79). Canada: Canadian
Art.
Collage Technique
[ A look at fundamental collage skills ]
“We cover the universe with drawings we have lived. These drawings need
not be exact. They need only be tonalized on the mode of our inner space”
-Gaston Bachelard
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
a few words of inspiration…
Our mind, as a tool for our memory, captures our experiences as a collection of images. As
these images merge they form an impression of space, place, and time that we then associate
with our being. Our memories are never place-less, nor are they concrete; it is this unique and
peculiar juxtaposition that allows the collage to be legitimately critiqued as a representation of
the minds construct. A collage, as a form of representation, contains all the potent elements of
memory. We piece together our lives in the same way components of a collage amalgamate.
Questions in technique
Materials?
Always begin by thinking of your page as a composition. When purchasing materials such as
paper take into consideration the size of your media ( magazine cutouts, photoshop, procured
photographs, ect. ). Once you come to a conclusion on the general composition and size of your
collage components take into consideration the negative space of your collage. Your collage
should most likely create a figure ground relationship. Whether this is through positive and
negative space or through a literal bisection of the composition is up to you.
Watercolor paper is an exceptional material that will take your glued images, printed images,
and/or line work all equally well. The thicker the better: by creating a rigid backing for your
collage you will extend it’s life and durability. You will most like want “hot-press” (implies a
smooth texture) unless you desire a more textured surface (warning: this wont take spray
adhesive as well)
When choosing glue, NEVER use anything except 3M super 77 for gluing down cut
images…Elmers or any other spray adhesive will NOT stay. When applying spray adhesive it is
extremely helpful to acquire a pair of tweezers in which to hold your cut image while you
spray…otherwise your hands can get quite sticky which inevitable leads to bad collages.
Gel mediums (acrylic mediums) work well for both adhering and transferring images as well as
creating a final seal. It can also be used to create a fresh surface in which to attach or transfer
new images.
Layering?
I find in many cases starting with a printed image on your paper is an excellent way to relieve the
tension of applying the first “piece”. Watercolor paper can be fed through the plotter quite easily
and accepts the ink in unexpectedly pleasant ways. Or, if you wish to create a field condition
from the get-go doing a light wash of watercolor or ink over portions of your paper can also be
effective (this may also allow your white, or negative space, to become an additive technique).
Don’t forget translucent materials such as trace. In an attempt to mute certain images or create
a layered effect, trace paper can do all that and more. It can be applied with spray adhesive and
a layer of gel medium may be brushed on top for a clean seal. You may also consider doing
line-work on trace and then applying the trace; this is a great way to transfer line work onto a
collage since drawing over layered paper is rarely effective.
Cut solid color paper can be a great way to emphasize your figure ground relationships. Not
everything must be an image in a collage and there is a great value that can be placed on
simplicity…. Think Miro, Calder, Chillida….. These same sort of solid color fields can be applied
with acrylic paint as well. The variety in color may be greater than that of paper. A good coating
of acrylic gel medium (which dries completely clear) is usually best for applying acrylic paint to
an image.
Gel Transfer: This is a layering technique that most likely needs a demonstration but here are the
basics…
Gel medium is essentially clear acrylic paint. When applied to a printed image of any kind and
the desired surface and placed together, the medium has the ability to remove the image and
transfer it to your chosen composition. Keep in mind the image will then be mirrored. If you are
doing a line drawing it is best to do it on a separate piece of paper, scan it, print it and then
apply it with this technique. This method is sensitive and not exact so if your looking for
refinement and cant find the beauty in random imperfections, don’t use it.
Finishing?
The same gel medium used for transferring can be used as a topcoat on your collage. This will
lock in each cut piece, preventing it from lifting up and tearing. The paper will remain flexible but
may curl up on the ends. Fixative will rarely supply you with the hold that your collage will need.
The acrylic medium comes is varying degrees of glossyness depending upon your preference.
A short conclusion….
Composition is key
-Think about your figure/ground relationships
-Consider allowing your negative space to be an additive technique
-Line is important
- Leave a border on your paper… it looks nice!
-When layering consider using both opaque and translucent media
-use EVERYTHING at your disposal, but remember the value in simplicity.
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