Kat's collage got me super inspired! I am a huge fan of collage and the aesthetic it brings. Before doing a collage, I never know what I'm going to produce, inspiration comes from the medium itself and thus comes the concepts. This is very exciting as inspiration flows as the process comes along. I loved the colours and aesthetic of Kat's collage, I didn't even want to touch it.
When looking at Kat's collage, it made me think of life as a whole. To me, It evokes themes of the history of the earth, both in a natural and man-made cultural sense. It looks as though it is a representation of the history of mankind, But not only this, to me it also represents the relationship between humans and natural phenomena and the impact we have had on the planet throughout time. This is due to the depictions of dinosaurs, space, nature, humans, buildings, the eye, people kissing. The scene is so chaotic and each element represents something so different. But that for some reason, feels so similar and whole.
I wanted to expand on this concept in the REMIX project. I decided to do this through following the same theme. The best way for me to do this was through a digital collage- something I have taken an extreme liking to recently. I took elements of Kat's collage to make my own interpretation. What I found particularly inspiring was the brains, the butterfly, the space shuttle and the colour scheme. I warped some of these images using the twirl filter and played with different opacities.
I didn't make any notes nor did I do any drawings before I started. I wanted this task to feel very natural and free. I wanted it to follow my stream of consciousness. This is inspired by the automatic thought processes surrealists used to create their works. As a result of this, I just played with images and composition as I went. I found many of the photos I used through thoughts that popped up in my head as a result of the visual material I was seeing. Thus, I would google these images, apply filters and add them in as I went. I started the project with no expectations.
An artist I found particularly inspiring was Hannah Hoch - Queen of collage. Her work has a random, surrealistic and bizarre aspect to it which draws me in and something I find extremely inspiring. A woman in the Dada movement in Germany, working amongst mostly men, she created a series of incredible political collages and photo-montages. Incredible!
Over the water, 1943:
Klien Sonne (Little Sun) 1969
Cut With the Dada Kitchen Knife, 1919
@dme_studio on instagram was also a big source of inspiration.
Surrealism Automatism, I didn't take much inspiration from the works themselves, but rather Andre Breton's theories that he wrote in the First Surrealist Manifesto regarding the idea. My version is digital. Finding photos of whatever comes through my stream of consciousness. A contemporary take.
Andre Masson, 1924, Ink on Paper
I also got some inspiration from the Spot What books in childhood. When I was living in Melbourne I would go to savers and go through them all! Very cool collage vibes and playful imagery!
But mostly, my own flow of consciousness and direct inspiration from Kat's collage were my references. Inspiration from my own mind. Not having anything particular in mind. Not thinking too much.
Life and Death, Digital Collage.
Life and death is about the history of life. I wanted to incorporate art, humans, man made objects, animals, nature, death, themes of psychology and emotion. The work aims to allow the viewer to reflect on the history of our world. It also aims to evoke a sense of confusion and bizzareness. At the same time, I want the viewer to connect their own meaning to my work, and allow their stream of consciousness to flow. Overall, I am happy with how my work has turned out and I look forward to making similar pieces in the future. I think the colours and imagery is strong.