Collage

Adjectives

Malleable, witty, layered, chaotic, loose, jagged, rough

Supporting Materials

• Scissors

• Glue

• Colored paper

• Mixed media paper

• Tissue paper

• Various craft materials

Safety & Health Considerations

Scissors are sharp can cut someone if they are not handled properly. Glue and ink residue can be left on hands and needs to be washed afterward.

Accommodation Possibilities

Students can tear paper instead of cutting with scissors. They can use tape instead of glue sticks. Wet glue can be applied with brushes.

Appropriate Age Group & Behavioral Expectations

• K-5 students will be able to safely use and maintain materials. They will be learning and practicing how to use glue, scissors, to cut and paste images.

• 6-12 students will have a developed understanding of the mechanics of collage. They will be able to spend longer amounts of time on more delicate subjects. Exacto knives can be used instead of scissors.

Brands and Associated Quality/Cost

• Glue:

  • $ Mod Podge: For mixed media

  • $$ Acrylic Medium: Used by professional artists, allows for acrylic paint mixing

  • $ Glue sticks: inexpensive, accessible, familiar

• Scissors:

  • $ Decorative scissors: This is safe and interesting/fun alternative to regular scissors.

  • $$ Quality Scissors: These precision adult scissors are used by collage artists.

  • $ Safety scissors: Safe for most young children learning to use scissors.

Artist Resource & Project Idea

Regan Golden is a collage artist who uses nature to inspire her installations and artworks.

Students will learn about fundamentals of photography. Students will take photographs of their natural environment. These photos will be printed and collaged together. Alternatively, the photographs can be digitally collaged together using photo editing software.

I taught this particular project in the 2022 Fall semester of MCAA's Saturday Art classes. The conceptual basis for this project was identifying symbols in nature. We began the lesson by learning about the Yurok tribe in California and their relationship of stewarding nature. Afterwards we began looking at Regan Golden's work that is heavily influenced by her natural surroundings. We took a nature walk outside and used phone cameras to capture inspiring images. After our walk, we went to the computer lab to assemble a digital collage using the free software Pixlr.

This is an image from the student's showcase of this project.

Studio Engagement

This collage is inspired the prompt of addressing society's constructs of gender in relation to our own lived experience. My construct of femininity stems greatly from media I would consume as a child that revolved around princesses and romance. From a young age, I was taught to admire personal ornamentation in the form of makeup, nails, jewelry, etc. to ultimately support the 'end-goal' of getting married and starting a family. My interpretation of what femininity is supposed to be is juxtaposed by the images at the top that represent my conflicting childhood interests in archeology, marine biology, and geology. While making this collage, I struggled with visually how to arrange the images together. In retrospect, I find it interesting that even now, I still inherently view them as different and separate from one another.

This collage is inspired by Henri Matisse's collage cutouts. I used a combination of contrasting organic and geometric shapes to create an abstract design.