Collage artists layer meaning and delight
| Boston and Amherst, Mass.
Anyone who鈥檚 picked up a picture book by Eric Carle, from 鈥淭he Very Hungry Caterpillar鈥� to 鈥淎 House for Hermit Crab,鈥� instantly recognizes the vivid illustrations, which were assembled from layers upon layers of tissue paper. The late Mr. Carle鈥檚 collages inspire artists today to expand on his legacy, and to experiment with imagery from their own backgrounds and cultural traditions.听
Ekua Holmes, a Boston-based artist whose work appears in a current exhibition at The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, Massachusetts, has described collage as a kind of alchemy. 鈥淚n its own small way, collage is recycling, upcycling, revitalizing items that already had a life. And I love that aspect. Because it already belonged to someone. And it brings that energy into a work of art.鈥�
Showcasing the vitality and diversity of the art form is central to the exhibition, says Ellen Keiter, the Carle鈥檚 chief curator. 鈥淲e wanted a balance, we wanted different generations of artists who worked in collage.鈥� On the walls, art from classic stories like 鈥淭he Very Hungry Caterpillar鈥� and Ezra Jack Keats鈥� 1962 鈥淭he Snowy Day鈥� is juxtaposed with work by contemporary picture book artists.
Why We Wrote This
A story focused onJoy and creativity can come from improvising something beautiful out of scraps and remnants. Artists working in collage bring order to a fragmented world.
The practice of creative recycling plays a prominent role in collage 鈥� as both metaphor and technique.听
Most people are familiar with the concept of collage, which can involve scraps of paper, pictures, cloth, or even small objects rearranged to form something new.听
鈥淲e all need examples of [making] success out of chaos in a fragmented world,鈥� says Nina Maurer, guest curator of the recent exhibition 鈥淚magine That! The Power of Picture Books鈥� at the Portsmouth Historical Society in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. 鈥淪o if we look to worlds built with fragments of paper and other materials to make sense of our experience there鈥檚 a kind of joy in recognizing ... what collage can bring to us.鈥�
Oge Mora, another artist featured in the Carle exhibition, says she was always drawn to colors and patterns, but she often found herself as a young artist getting caught up in ideas about what art is 鈥渟upposed to look like.鈥澨�
鈥淲hat does it mean for us as people, if we can look at the things that are around us all the time, the things that we overlook, or things we might throw away, and you can find something beautiful about them?鈥� asks Ms. Mora.听
鈥淐ollage is all about how you want to express yourself, and what you want to say, so it鈥檚 a real rebel medium,鈥� she says.听
In her experience, that rebellion has largely been based in her culture as a Black American. During college, Ms. Mora had to learn to trust herself and question the artistic spaces around her, as well as the motives of the gatekeepers who decided what was included and what wasn鈥檛.听
Collage as rebellion
Acts of resistance also largely informed Mr. Carle鈥檚 work, says Ms. Maurer, the curator. 鈥淐arle was rebelling against what he experienced as a child in Nazi Germany. He said that it was the impression of those gray walls and the lack of color in his world that he fought to counter in his career as an artist.鈥�
Although he鈥檚 now famous for his cheerful picture books bursting with color, Mr. Carle鈥檚 childhood was anything but. His family moved from Syracuse, New York, to his father鈥檚 hometown of Stuttgart, Germany, when he was 6, just before the start of World War II.听
The move thrust Mr. Carle into the rigid, colorless, and sometimes physically abusive Nazi school system. He found refuge in his high school art classes, where he was encouraged by a brave teacher to pursue the loose shapes and forms of abstract art, which was forbidden by the Nazis. Art became a means of escaping his dismal surroundings.听
Mr. Carle moved back to the United States as a young adult in 1952. By the time of his death in 2021, he had illustrated more than 70 books, most of which he also wrote.听
Rising above adversity听
On closer look, the story of collage is also one of ingenuity 鈥� overcoming adversity by finding beauty and self-expression in things cast aside. The centuries-old traditions of African American quilt-making have an improvisational quality that reminds many people of collage. While the quilts served a utilitarian purpose, reusing scraps of fabric and keeping out the cold, they also showcased their makers鈥� personalities and artistry.听
Ms. Mora says she was drawn to the 鈥渓anguage and aesthetic鈥� of collage as she was looking for her artistic voice. She says she was not only inspired by African textile traditions but also by contemporary African Americans working in three-dimensional media, such as Aminah Robinson, an artist from Ms. Mora鈥檚 hometown of Columbus, Ohio, who created tapestry-like quilts from recycled objects like old jeans and lost buttons.
鈥淚 always really gravitated towards her work from a very young age,鈥� says Ms. Mora, who is now based in Providence, Rhode Island.听
She adds that Ms. Robinson鈥檚 work taught her to see what could be made out of unconventional objects or materials. She regularly thumbs through old books for inspiration.听
鈥淧apers and stuff that are commonplace, when you put them on the page, suddenly they鈥檙e profound,鈥� she says.听
Children鈥檚 books and collage
Collage was popularized in children鈥檚 books in the 1960s by Mr. Carle and Mr. Keats. It鈥檚 an approach that had the potential to appeal beyond the target audience.听
鈥淸Collage has] an immediate attraction for young children because they recognize it as a bridge to them. ... It鈥檚 got color. It鈥檚 got bold shapes. ... It鈥檚 got a surprise with the turn of one page to the next,鈥� says Ms. Maurer. 鈥淭hat pleasure of discovery,鈥� she says, 鈥渋s universal and does not fade.鈥�
鈥淲e have incredible nostalgia and memories tied to picture books as adults, but as children, we are engaging and learning things from them,鈥� says Ms. Keiter, the Carle curator.
鈥淭he Very Hungry Caterpillar,鈥� for example, has sold over 50 million copies and has been translated into more than 60 languages since 1969. Its success and that of Mr. Carle鈥檚 other titles, along with a desire to raise the profile of children鈥檚 book art, led the artist and his wife to open the museum that bears his name in 2002.听
鈥淐elebrating Collage: A 20th Anniversary Exhibition,鈥� which continues through Dec. 31, includes the work of 20 picture book collage artists, including Ms. Mora and Ms. Holmes 鈥� who continues to be impressed by the accessibility of the medium.听 听
鈥淥ne of the things I love about collage ... is that it鈥檚 very democratic; it鈥檚 very grassroots,鈥� Ms. Holmes says. 鈥淲hatever you have on hand you can work with. I think that鈥檚 a perfect message for our time, because in many aspects of life right now we鈥檙e getting lemons, so we need to be making lemonade.鈥澨�
