in praise of collage

In this gallery of works created from my Fotoplay book, I’ve posted more pages made at the Starrett Children’s Center. A few were created by the kids, others were made by their teachers, and all of the works incorporate collaged elements. The page above was completed by five year old Baileigh. If you take a moment to really look at each frame, you can see how many pointed decisions (shape, scale, color) she made to fill each space, and to embellish (or not embellish) each frame. And how intriguing that she chose to close that bright open doorway with a brown door…

After completing that page, Baileigh went on to create the page above, which is not one of the pages from my Fotoplay book. She chose this magazine page from a pile and added to the white space at the bottom a second shelf with colorful objects. Baileigh created her own Fotoplay page…

The work above was made by Linda Stec, Director/teacher extraordinaire. Linda made a collaged piece with my December Fotoplay card, and while that work (below) was created months ago, you can see some strong connections. The interest in hands and their expressive gestures. The strong sense of design with shape(s). Linda is also a ceramicist and puppeteer and I always feel a sense of three dimensions when I look at her work.

Linda also created the piece below, which she called Orpheus and Eurydice. My page originally said “This tunnel is overflowing with tiny butterfiles;” Linda altered the end of my sentence, taking away the butterflies and adding HELP ME. She filled the opening in the tunnel with fire, and added a young girl, who is coming up out of the tunnel, but barely. We can somehow see that she won’t make it. There is a dapper (and clearly preoccupied) man in the foreground, with his hand extended backward, touching the girl.

Linda illustrated the critical, pivotal moment in the story of Orpheus and Eurydice. As she worked, she talked about her collage and recounted this most famous legend to the group of young questioning children who gathered around her. When I was there looking at the finished work above, 6 year old Eliot passionately repeated the story, emphasizing the fact that Orpheus was told not to look back!

The page below is the last page in my Fotoplay book where, as you can see, I introduce myself, ask kids (or adults) to create a body for me, and invite them to email their work to me. Peggy Shea Andrews, a teacher at Starrett, a writer, Mom to Eliot and Alice, and maker of all manner of poetic things, created this page with collage. The hat that’s made out of glittery foil paper; the Russian dolls on a shelf; a little car that is moving right along; the markers in my hand; the Once Upon a Time story book that floats at the edge of my cape. Peggy took a still page and created one that’s filled with motion and energy and a warm breeze.

She also created the work below, which, I was told, might still be a work in progress. I couldn’t resist photographing (and posting it) anyway.

There’s a collaged figure on the left of a young wary girl with the doll in a sling, and there’s an owl looking back (at us). And there’s a collection of metallic bubbles… rising?… hovering?…moving toward the girl? The longer I look at this page, the more I wonder if it’s really not complete…