I have recently introduced some classes to the technique of collage. Collage is an excellent way to create new art and has been used throughout history. Some of the first artists to use this technique were; Picasso and Braque who coined the name “collage” from the French word coller that means “to glue”, then Dadaists, Surrealists and contemporary artists as well (Rachel Grant, Charlotte Cory, Monika Ardila, Andrea D’Aquino, Franz Falckenhaus,..).
Surrealist artists saw collage as something powerful. They believed that collage depicted poetic activity of the unconscious mind and was a combination of diverse images that ultimately created something new. On the footsteps of Surrealists, students mixed and juxtaposed pre-existing representations and transformed them into new creations. Bringing these elements together can give life to weird narratives and bizarre scenes. When creating art, the key is to have fun and let the mind and soul go.
That’s what PNA students did: they looked at thousands of pictures and felt free to cut parts and assemble them together in their own imaginary world.
4th graders made hybrid creatures, first choosing a color and gluing images with that color together.
6th graders did a hybrid creature as well and spent some time creating a collage that conveyed a feeling.
Anybody can create a collage. It can be therapeutic, it can be fun, and it can help develop fantasy. It is a technique in which you glue together cut images from paper, but also other media like fabrics and print. In collage, you can also use a combination of other techniques, physical objects (buttons, beads, ..), vintage magazines, drawings, watercolors, etc.
Contemporary artist Kerstin said, “I create my collage very intuitively and by chance. When I create, my head stops thinking.”
This is what happens with students: children create more freely than most adults. This is the reason I have them start working on collages at a young age. I want their creativity to run wild.
1st graders created a dress that could become a carnival inspiration with collage. Since we were creating close to the time of the Venezia Carnival in Italy, I had them create a dress for a possible costume. It was challenging, but I believe that doing this work at a young age increases their sense of understanding contemporary art. It is a great exercise for the mind to become more open to all of the possibilities of art.