Collage, from the
French: coller, to glue, is a technique primarily used in the visual
arts, where the artwork results from the assemblage of several
different parts, forms and textures, thus creating a new whole.
The origins of collage
can be traced back hundreds of years, but this technique become very
popular in the early 20th century with artists such as Braque and
Picasso.
Collages collect the
individual character of different found objects and pictures to
create an entirely new picture. This can be achieved by combining
newspaper and magazine clippings, lace, packaging, paper tickets,
posters, old post cards, bits of colored or handmade papers, sections
of existing photographs and artwork all combined into a new artwork.
Collage is still very
popular today. Many contemporary artists still use scissors and glue
to create their collages while others use modern digital photography
software to create digital collages of digital pictures and scanned
found material.
The end results can
often be not only beautiful and interesting but also o surprising and
surreal. Some can make you smile, others can make you cringe, some
will take you back to a bygone era, others will take you into the
future or a new world. You may like them or hate them but it is
impossible to remain indifferent to these creations.
All
pictures in this article are examples of only some of the most
exciting collage artists on
Etsy. You can find out more about them
and their work there.
Written by
Pedro Vieira
