Collage

In 2024 I felt a need to explore new mediums in my creative process and lit upon collage, something I had not tried since the first grade when gluing macaroni and glitter onto construction paper.

Why collage?  Collage is a celebration of layers, textures, and stories—a medium that has invited me to see the extraordinary in the ordinary. Through the act of assembling disparate materials, including parts of old works of my art, collage transforms fragments of the past into a different story.  I have reclaimed discarded materials, giving them new life and context.

My burgeoning collage practice has encouraged me to break free from the constraints of a single medium and explore the interplay of shapes and marks in an entirely new way.  The process of layering collage materials is a meditative act of discovery and what constitutes trash to be thrown away has a very different meaning for me now.

For me collage embodies resilience, adaptability, and the power of reinvention, all of which are center stage in my own life currently, and an artistic reminder that beauty can emerge from even the most fragmented pieces.

-Julie Schumer