The Collage Notebooks

“Break a vase, and the love that reassembles the fragments is stronger than that love which took its symmetry for granted when it was whole”.

Derek Walcott, writer and visual artist

In this notebook of collage you´ll have the chance to enjoy the fragments which build the artistic world of:

Francisca Pageo Ophelia Chong Mario Nofre Liga Kitchen Willy Ollero

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Francisca Pageo (Spain 1983)

http://www.franciscapageo.com

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Francisca Pageo answers: When did you start making collages?

I started to make collages seven years ago when i begun to work like photographer assistant & editor. I thought it was a very nice idea to make visual journals to express my feelings of every day.

Which one of your projects is your favorite and why?

This is difficult, it depends a lot of the moment and age of my life. “Shadow of liberty” is my favorite one actually. The question of the collage and my vision about that it came because it’s obvious to see how the society it’s purely logical, submissive, nothing emotional & with true feelings. These two latest things are a major symptom of the freedom & being human. Women & children (& men, also) need to be themselves even if the shadow of their role in the society it’s difficult to confront of.

Do you see a common essence (idea/style) in all your works?

Yes. I think & i feel my work like an expression of how art & nature must be one. There’s a feminine or human element & nature things in almost all of them. I try unconsciously to show beautiful (and maybe melancholic) things magically, things we have out & inside of ourselves, in this gray world where i live.

An artist whose work you find inspiring He is not a collage neither a plastic artist, he’s a cinema director: Andrei Tarkovsky it’s probably my most favorite one. A piece of art must be poetic, mysterious, get a heart murmur; and all his works & movies are amazing in this aspect.

Something that you´ve discovered short time ago I’m a great passionate of illustration & Slavic art and Yelena Bryksenkova’s artwork touched me some days ago. I love the diaries about her life in different countries & cities and how she combines nature, fairy tales & daily issues.

The best tip that someone has given to you.

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“Don´t think about your art before working, simply do it. Only in this way you can be sincere in your work.”

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Ophelia Chong (Canada - lives in USA.) http://opheliachong.org

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Ophelia Chong answers: When did you start making collages?

When I was five in my art class. I had a small bottle of white glue, a pair of scissors and a magazine, off i went and I created a woman out of colored bits of paper. I can still see it in my memories. Which one of your projects is your favourite and why?

My favorite collages come out of the time period I am in, so each one is a favorite. With each collage I fine tune my style.

Do you see a common essence (idea/style) in all your works?

The one shape, its is a simple shape. A twist of the wrist with a #11 exacto blade.

An artist whose work you find inspiring I find Titian, Raphael, Gainsborough, any art created between the 16th - 18th centuries.

I am drawn to European art of that time period, not sure why, I am also drawn to its churches and cemetaries. Maybe a past life as a nun? I think so.

Something that you´ve discovered short time ago What I discovered is that I never have a plan for a collage, it just keeps layering until I know its done. So I don't force myself to think of how it will look, I just let it flow.

The best tip that someone has given to you.

Don't compete with the person next to you, you will never win. Only look to what you are doing and do it the best you can.

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Mario Nofre (Spain, 1975)

http://artistadimerda.blogspot.com

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Mario Nofre answers: When did you start making collages?

There isn´t a specific time when I started to work with collage. Collage has always been present in what I have done as work itself or as part of the creation process when I was involved in other disciplines such as painting or video. The last three or four years I am working only with collage.

Which one of your projects is your favorite and why?

My favorite is the project I'm working on now without any doubt . This is an illustrated edition of selected poems by Sylvia Plath. It is a pleasure to work on texts so hard and gritty, with extreme sensitivity and elegant and vulgar language at a time. They are poems that hurt to read. The challenge is getting the same feeling with the image that accompanies them.

Do you see a common essence (idea / style) in all your works?

It's hard to say but when I am able to have an overview of what I do, I see that there are elements that I repeat. Besides aesthetics, the taste for the vintage, I think each picture shows a dramatic point of human misery. Sometimes I try to analyze what is the role of women, children, and what is the reason I use to sexualize everything.

An artist whose work you find inspiring.

Eduardo Paolozzi no doubt. I love the power of his collages. He is a reference and I recognize

that I have sometimes blatantly copied. It seems an interesting character who renounced to the pop label defending his work as surreal, precisely in the American context of the 40's.

Something that you´ve discovered short time ago A painting on wood cut from a Christ of the Sacred Heart in the attic of my mother, whose origin should not rebel. It seemed to me beautiful and I'm thinking about doing some assemblage with it.

The best tip that someone has given to you Life is Photoshop!

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Liga Kitchen (Latvia 1982- lives in UK)

http://ligakitchen.blogspot.com

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Liga Kitchen answers When did you start making collages?

I've been working with collage since 2008.

Which one of your projects is your favourite and why?

I started this exciting collaboration with Latvia's culture project "Viegli" in May this year (more info on the links here: http://ligakitchen.blogspot.com/2011/05/latvian-music-cd-andfilm-viegli.html). W e created a beautiful CD album that celebrates poems by colossal Latvian poet Imants Ziedonis and songs by some of the finest jewels of the Latvian music world. I was given freedom to come up with ideas, so I used the poems and music as the starting point for my illustrations. It has been amazing to see how this project has developed and reached out further than the borders of Latvia, there are new ideas being developed to create a digital museum, creative workshops, etc... The project was and still is continuing to be a very creative collaboration.

Do you see a common essence (idea/style) in all your works?

My works in most cases start with a hand drawing, ink pen and blank paper. The beginning, the interaction between the idea and a hand created drawing are integral to how I work, after that I continue the image in the media it requires. Colour and line are also important to me, Simplicity. Space for thought. I love leaving a lot of free space in my works, that allows the viewer to imagine the untold. I love to tell stories through my works, often it will be about people, their relationships, a celebration of life.

An artist whose work you find inspiring There are many artists that I find inspiring, too many to name them, and every day brings another one. I get inspired all the time. Not just by artists, but more by observing people, surroundings, happenings, books, music...

Something that you´ve discovered short time ago At the moment I'm getting my kicks from listening to Metronomy. It's music but it conjures up imagery; plus it's good to dance to.

The best tip that someone has given to you.

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The importance of free space in the works, that something that is left out/ left untold can tell more than a busy work. Simplicity of ideas.

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Willy Ollero (Spain, 1981)

ww.willydibujando.blogspot.com

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Willy Ollero answers When did you start making collages?

Well... I usually say I started like 6 years ago, while living in Lisbon... but I recently found a bunch of collages my father kept... dated on 1991!

Which one of your projects is your favourite and why?

One of my favourite projects was my "Abecedary girls" series. It was fun making it!

Do you see a common essence (idea/style) in all your works?

Yes, I think all my illustrations and collages have a kind of signature... I guess it is due to the fact that they are all part of my life diary, they all tell stories about my life, though to a stranger, it might be sometimes dificult to read.

Part of that signature is the use of colour, the intersection between collage and illustration, the use of words, sentences, sometimes poetry...

An artist whose work you find inspiring I find the Dada movement really inspiring for my work... specially Leonora Carrington.

Something that you´ve discovered short time ago My last found has been "The Little Prince" in its pop-up version... It is absolutely amazing and beautiful!

The best tip that someone has given to you.

"Keep trying"

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