mindincollage. An Art Diary

Welcome to the site! I'm so glad you're here!

Why Collage?

Over the past year and some change I've been consistently collaging as a method to confront my feelings and think deeply about what's going on in the world and my own life. I've used collaging to get over broken relationships, to work through discomfort in my own body, to think about political issues, and to bring myself closer to others in sharing my supplies and offering the space for friends to do the same.

Here is a more practical explanation: collaging is one of the most accessible art forms: you don't need to be a skillful painter or sketcher to cut out images and text from magazines. With many papers and magazines going digital these days, one can find free or extremely cheap magazines pretty easily...if you know where to look. Any thrift store that sells more than clothes should have magazines and postcards and stationery and so on, and these are all excellent places to start gathering materials to begin. Any craft section should have glue and scissors and so on. Hopefully by now you get my point. Collage is a fiscally accessible and technically accessible art form if you're not a confident artist.

So What?

I am starting this site with 25 pieces from the past year. Some of the darkest moments over the past year have been translated to colors and shapes and words mixed together to form a map of my mind. When I look at all of my pieces together I can see myself live and feel and change and think.

I don't use social media for my personal life. Generally, I keep my cards close to my chest, and I share my life and experiences with those I love and care for with little exception. I'm not sure I believe in acquaintances anymore, but you'll probably see a blog post about that soon. Deciding to launch this art diary into a website and blog was a decision I mulled over for quite a while. I struggle a lot thinking about the loss of control that comes with others perceptions of myself. This mostly consists of how meaning and intention can be misinterpreted and misunderstood. I feel like my whole life I've been running from others perceptions—being quiet and awkward have always been easier. However, I don't wish to live my life like that. After many years of therapy, many discussions with close friends and family, and of course, reading others's experiences on Reddit, I have grown to understand that I need to let some things wash over me. This website is an effort to do so. Meaning becomes concrete when recognized or shared by others, and I wish to let my art exist in a space where others can take control of its meaning, let it exist outside of only myself, interpret it, and I hope it can do something other than sit in a pile in a corner of my apartment.

I don't know what to do in general. I'm a gen z early adult who only sees a bleak future ahead (I know, REALLY unique). The only way I've been able to tackle the confusing and difficult thoughts and feelings I've encountered in the past year is through the process of these collage projects. It seems that now is as good a time as any to share them.

The Future

My hope for this site is that it can spur thought and discussion. Maybe one day others can share their collages too. I'm interested in hearing the thoughts of others, so I plan on keeping comments open on my posts. I am going to continue collaging and uploading projects to the gallery when they are finished. For future additions, I'm considering including descriptions of where my head was while composing it and potential connections to certain culturally relevant topics. Nonetheless, this will be a learning experience. It should be fun.

Thank you for reading.

Leia

Feel free to leave a comment with your thoughts! I welcome any discussion—just be nice.