Collage

“Creativity is intelligence having fun.” ~ Albert Einstein

Have you ever made a collage? You know, a creative composition made up of different images, materials or elements. I have seen them, but never made one myself. Which is why, when an artist friend of mine was teaching a workshop on collage as symbols, I decided to give it a try. I’m not an artistic person since my teens. I used to draw comics when I was a small child, but I left it behind because in those days, you couldn’t make a living drawing cartoons, right?

Also, being a technical person, I am used to having assigned rules to follow for any particular project. But making art is very different process. When I arrived at the workshop, we were given the instructions in a straight but open manner. First, pick a few magazines and skim through them looking for photos, graphics, text or texture, which you’re drawn to. I found this process a bit difficult, since when I have too many choices, I tend to freeze and not pick one. But something interesting happened next.

I had about 8 different magazines, and went through them at a leisurely but quick pace. I had arranged my schedule so there was really nothing to do after this workshop so I was relaxed. Soon I found myself in a state of peaceful flow, looking at page after page and feeling if anything felt appealing. The soothing music playing on the background helped me to feel immersed in the moment, not thinking so much, but feeling.

I started noticing a pattern in my collage creating process. When I found a particular image that I wanted to use, I would cut it with scissors, so all my images all had straight edges. Following my teacher’s advice, I would tear pages from the magazines and use them as backgrounds. I found the process of unevenness in my images a bit unsettling at first, but then it eventually became liberating. After all, all that matters was that I liked the end product. There are no rules in making art.

Then I also learned from the other students that you could be playful with the collage. One of them created a “pocket” in one of the figures, which would open up and have a message inside, but only if viewer would notice it. Another one purposely created borders to the collage which would overrun the official paper we were given. I would find out later that she meant it as purpose defiance of limits and rules. Brilliant! Another one created three smaller collages that told a story if placed together. Or not. It was all about interpretation.

The symbols that appeared in my final collage represented parts of my identity. My longing for adventure and connection to others are there. I can see my technical/engineering side, which has occupied my professional life being represented. My love for self development was also included. My aspirational use of intuition, something I am not valuing more and more. Sides of my personality when I see others’ points of view and try to accept that not everyone will get along.

All in all, it was an exploration into my creative side, and into symbolism which I value in my life. Making my first collage helped me to explore how I make decisions and how I complete projects. Maybe in the future I will try other forms of artistic expressions. But I realize that I should not leave this part of me unnoticed, and hope you do the same. Do something that scares you and excites you at the same time. That is the magic zone.