I have been delighted to be a Special Agent in Andrea Lewicki’s collage collective from early on, though I don’t dive into every mission. But this one, Beetejuice — well, it was right up my alley.

It’s a simple mission: create the same collage 3 times. Oooh, something I don’t usually get to explore — all the different ways I could have combined digital elements? Yes please.

A specific requirement asked for analog elements within the piece. I just happen to have an entire folder just for that! I started playing with some randomly selected analog elements, starting over with the same pieces each time. Here’s what I submitted for my mission statement:

I grabbed several elements from my digital stash that appealed, randomly: a recipe from my mom, a gelli plate print, a scribbled collage, a sketchpad painting, and a retinal scan of my eye. Then I layered them, in the same order each time, but varying the amount & method of combining the layers. Version A is straight-up 100% normal, with white areas removed from upper layers, but B & C get weird, inverted, or less intense options.

Well, if that doesn’t just summarize my art process! Except I usually have to make just one choice… What a treat to explore; perhaps I should do that more often, hmmm?

Want to try your hand at it? Entries are open through the end of the month, and new agents are welcome.