Now that it is May and World Collage Day is almost upon us (May 14!), I wanted to share an insight that I’ve discovered over the past three months.
First, we had Februllage, (@februllage), an entire month of collage prompts organized by Miss. Printed and Rhed Fawell. Then there was Marchollage, organized by Rachel Morris (@FiveByFiveCreativity) because Februllage became a lifeline for her after her parents’ passing. She created Marchollage to cope and to connect with other artists. She is not alone in creating collage as a coping method. I am one of them, and we are many. I was unable to participate in Marchollage because I signed up for CollageLab’s Spring Fling, a month long collage extravaganza, but I will definitely try to participate next year!
In getting to know the other artists who were participating in CollageLab’s Spring Fling, many of them had a similar story to mine and Rachel’s: crisis led them to collage. I began collage at the beginning of my struggles with mental health, and several participants and instructors in the Spring Fling echoed that they had taken up collage to cope with mental health issues, the pandemic, or personal crisis. Now that I am a part of the Pittsburgh Collage Collective (@pghcollagecollective on IG), several members have also said that collage helped them get through their mental health struggles, whether from circumstance, brain chemicals, or addiction.
Collage is mindfulness meditation in action. It’s very satisfying to take unlike parts and create something entirely new. The action of cutting requires all of your attention, as does the composing. It’s hard to think about anything else but the present moment when cutting, composing, or looking for that something yellow that needs to go just right there. It’s creating order from chaos, or the other way around. It’s also a way to play! In the Spring Fling, we learned about just playing to see what kinds of effects we could create with different materials. Collage can be anything that is attached to another thing, and the options are endless. No rules except your own. If you have been struggling in some way, tear something up and glue it back together. It may help a little. <3
A small collage I made just to play.