Collage, the original meme
And a Risograph workshop recap!
Hello!
A couple of weekends ago, I hosted a collage-making + printmaking Risograph workshop at my studio. It was an extremely lovely Saturday afternoon with 6 of us cutting, pasting, making Riso magic, enjoying the time spent making things (and making friends).
We worked in layers to print our pieces with three Riso colors, using our hands and focusing on composition, contrast, and individual creative expression.
Nothing brings me more joy than facilitating space for positive group experiences. I am so thankful for my studio space that can sometimes double as a relaxing workshop oasis!
We had butterfly peaflower tea and macarons and rosemary almonds and settled in to some collage time.
Collage is easily one of my favorite go-to art-making methods and it has been creeping back into my art practice this year too (see my previous post). The energy of this workshop reminded me how much life there is in the simplest act of creative assembly.
Collage is unique in that pulls from existing media (magazines, newspapers, books, photographs, nature, or even scraps from prior projects) and recontextualizes it to express something new and original. Collage is all about the remix, but it’s not arbitrary. Underlying each assembly is the subtle (or not so subtle) voice of the creator behind it.
Collage is so much more than just cut and paste, it’s a kind of alchemy of interaction.
Collage is the original, analog meme. Whenever I used to think of memes I would think about funny internet engagement bait. But when I give it more thought I see the ingenuity in crafting human relatability and connection through image and text. The medium of the internet is a little more ~derpy~ and not always ~aesthetic~ but doesn’t that just underline the punk ehtos underneath it all? It’s the same creative essence, isn’t it?
I also think about how both collage and meme-making are possibly the most approachable forms of creative expression, one that comes really naturally to us and easy to execute.
When making and appreciating collage, memes, or any kind of assembly of previously made material, it’s easy to question - who is the source of the art? Additionally, with many works like this, both the original creators of the images and the creator of the new context and assembly are not always credited. This starts to tread into the contemporary dilemma of AI. Is all of AI essentially a collage of previous material? Who are we to credit? Who has the rights?
Although there are many forms of digital and internet collage, making collage with our hands materially is really something special. It’s a way to to return to something nearly primitive and instinctual. To craft expanded meaning from what we already know and experience feels deeply rooted in human nature. We are designed to see, understand, and form new meanings.
The thing I love most about collage is that it reuses fragments from the past, which brings about a nostalgic sentimentality to the process, and also gives us limitations. At the very same time, the act of trimming and re-arranging facilitates a type of surrender, and not being overly precious with the original materials.
The process of using the Riso requires surrender as well, as it leads us to embrace imperfection and open up to the mystery of results. I always tell my workshop participants that Riso is not about achieving a pre-planned outcome, but it is about simply seeing what goes in(to the printer) and how it comes out. I always offer advice to approach the process as an experiment, with play and curiosity over control and attachment.
The Risograph truly emobodies the spirit of DIY scrappiness, but with a sort of untouchable elegance at the same time. For artists and self-publishers, or any human of any kind, there are so many possibilities to use Riso for expression. I love seeing everyone’s unique voice emerge in the workshops.
Supplies were provided at the workshop but everyone was invited to bring their own special collage materials to use and share as well. I contributed several small bodies of media to the table to share too! Some of which were vintage Yoga Journal magazines from the 1970s. These are so (SO) fun for me to look at and read, and very different from the glossy, high def ones you find at the grocery store now…
What I especially love are the classified ads!!! I wouldn’t have dreamed of cutting anything up from these magazines before, but I just thought everything would be so fun to work with. The images, typefaces, and words were irresistible to me…
I did a demo with some of these materials and kept cutting things out that caught my eye during the workshop. Everything sort of assembled itself, and it was just very fun to see what came together.
I stayed and printed after the workshop and ended up making four little 70s Yoga Journal meme postcards that really make me smile. I printed them in metallic gold and black inks on various paper colors. I can’t wait to give them to people.
See below:
This Yoga Journal word-remix offers an intriguing claim that I can not deny…
If you have never had your consciousness altered by Mysore sandalwood, I am in fact hopeful you someday will.
I can’t believe this sentence below could be crafted so well from words I found in the same typeface…
Announcement: I now refer to all sound as “GOD MUSIC”.
Speaking of collage, last week I shared about a new series of art recently finished, a grouping of paintings and collaged works titled Artifacts of. They are all made from natural pigments, repurposed materials, treasures and memories. It is the first time I moved beyond painting and tried a ‘mixed media’ approach to pieces like this. This grid of 24 new pieces are up on display this week in a group art show. The closing reception is today, Sunday April 27th from 3-6pm at 306 W Cross St in Ypsilanti, Michigan.
The possibilities right at your hands are limitless.
Pieced together enthusiastically,
♡ Kristen
Those riso collages are so good!! I’m so excited to take the class next month
It was such a fun afternoon! Thank you, Kristen :)