Collage is such an accessible, communal activity. It was my pull back into art after a haul in the tech world, and is a way that anyone can practice creativity anywhere, any time. Some scissors? Or not — just rip! And a bit of glue? Something to hold it together? It doesn’t take much.

Last year, Andrea Lewicki thought up Collage-o-Rama, gathering us all in for a month-long festival of collage — and it worked! Collage artists convened, people came in off the streets, and had to be shooed out to shut the place down! This year, she’s back at Slip Gallery in Belltown to do it again.

I ended up in four (4!) of the calls, and helped pull the digital show together, but that’s just a small part of the whole thing. Here’s where to look for my work, amongst the breadth of this collage extravaganza.

Mission 22: Monochrome

For this mission, meant to fill the walls of Slip Gallery for the month of Collage-o-Rama, I sent in some pinks, still the colour I’m noodling over.

All the collages sent in were mounted to 11×14 boards with their matching hues — over 250 of them! The full display, a rainbow of collage work, kept going and going, over half a dozen walls. And the opening reception was filled to the brim, with people collaging at tables for the whole evening, attendees in monochrome outfits, and before the night was out, jammed with art walk folks in every direction.

Mission 23: Squint + Swatch = Squatch

What a fun little mission: squinting to blur a collage! This collaboration with Hope Amico had a space for a tiny collage, as part of her art prompt postcards that she’s been sending for ages. I squinted at a brick wall and blended some orange and warm brown tones, then sent it off without capturing it — oops!

But I did grab the whole wall exhibit up at the show — look at this beautiful array! It’s an extension of Hope’s Keep Writing postcard project, if you are interested in joining.

Mission 24: Complex Pictures

This one is the biggie, for me. Andrea nudged me really hard: there should be a call for digital collage. Yes, indeed! It’s all a blur, but there are submissions, acceptances, new special agents, and a slide show, displayed via projector at Collage-o-Rama. Here’s what I submitted, and Andrea accepted:

As with the main, monochrome exhibit, we got a range of hues here too. And can I rave about how far & wide the entries came from? Stop by Slip Gallery to see the slideshow, complete with a rainbow of background colours. For those of you further afield, the show is also posted on the Special Agent Collage Collective site.

Mission 25: The Seaside Fleet

This mission, for international artists to extend the reach of an already accessible program and artform, applied to me too, thanks to my recently reclaimed Canadian residency.

It’s an evolution of some installation art, folding 1000 pieces of art into paper boats, the brainchild of JRC, who proposed that his Folded Fleet sail into Seattle. I submitted another of my abstract pieces, interwoven exploration, and it looks wonderful as a folded sculpture. If I read the write-up correctly, I think this means I’m in a show with Todd Bartel and Kerith Lisi too? An honour! Look for the updated fleet to be released around Slip Gallery at the end of May and beginning of June.

But there’s lots more than this going on, and I bow to Andrea, for her far-reaching planning and imagination to make this month-long event happen. Join us!

Details

Where: Slip Gallery, 2301 1st Ave, Seattle
When: May 9 through June 7
Hours: 10am-5pm Fridays and Saturdays, 1-6pm on Sundays
Exceptions: Closed May 11 (Mother’s Day) for a private event, but open Monday, May 26 (Memorial Day)