ARTIST OF THE MONTH OF APRIL
Lilie
Créa
Mauricie
How did you discover collage?
My mother had a passion for collage. She liked to cut up pictures of animals and floral elements that she would later put on her refrigerator or on a large cardboard. So I think there’s a bit of genetics in that passion. I can also say that I love being in touch with the material. I like the effect of cutting, tearing, placing, gluing, building and rebuilding an image to give it a new life.
I am currently studying for a master’s degree in art-therapy and collage will be my medium on which my qualitative research will focus. Title of the essay: How collage can support a professional transition in an art-therapeutic follow-up.
What did you like about the collage medium?
What I like is the inventory of possibilities we have with this medium. With collage, I can build a new narrative in which the main character (who is mostly female) will live and have a direction I built and in which he will evolve. I also like to inject and hide a message in my work. These are often messages of hope, messages that inspire me in general and that will often become the title of my work.
How would you describe your style?
I could define myself as a visual artist whose mixed media are my specialty.
In one word, what makes you unique?
Dreamlike world, invented characters.
Where do you find you collage material? What are your favorite magazines?
I find my pictures in magazines, newspapers. I also use silk paper with prints on it (which can be found at DeSerres), pictures from my own private collection, tissue boxes that have very nice patterns, websites like Pinterest, for example. I also use specialized books on collage where we can cut images that are free of use.
Any advice for a newcomer collagist?
To help me classify my images, I created folders where I place images and photos by theme (ex: plants, flowers, letters, mandalas, etc.) and I also have boxes identified with different pieces of fabric, lace, buttons, beads, etc. We need to have a filing system because the more we are fascinated by textures, images, the more we accumulate. It can quickly become a mess in the workshop!
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