Daily Altered Image
A Collage Project for 2016
Around mid-December 2015 I was creatively blocked, unsure of where to go with my art, needing to step outside the box a little. I remembered an exercise, suggested almost a year earlier by Danielle Krysa on her blog The Jealous Curator (and actually suggested to her by artist Trey Speegle) - find a picture you like, photocopy it a bunch of times, take each image and cut it, paint it, fold it, glue it, add stuff to it, take stuff away, alter it in any way you feel so inclined. So I Googled 'fifties woman' and printed many copies of the first image that I found appealing. Then I made seven collages that afternoon.
And I loved doing it.
And I loved the results.
And I could see what a great exercise this would be as an ongoing project; a way to be creative yet quick, to have to let go of every single piece being perfectly cut, and tidily glued. A chance to experiment with other media, with no attachment or plan to use it in the future. Basically a way to give up all my usual art rules and just play for a change. So I decided I'd do lots more pieces based on this one image; but a couple of weeks went by and I still only had the original seven.
On January 1st 2016, on a whim, I posted the first of the seven on Facebook and Instagram, and committed to doing that every day for a year. I know that if I put something out there and say I'm going to do it then there's no going back, so I was off and running.
I did have rules, but just two of them - I had to do the first thing that came into my head, and I had to post the result even if I hated it. (I pretty much stuck to the first one, and always stuck to the second). They are all on vertical 12" x 9" white Bristol paper. They are mostly paper collage (because cutting and pasting is my first love) but there is fabric, embroidery thread, paint, crayons, 3D found objects and even a little print making toward the end, when I realized that the whole goal of using other media had somewhat fallen by the wayside. Work and other time commitments prevented me from making a piece every single day so sometimes I made several at once, but I posted one each day, and always in the order in which I made them.
I don't even know who the woman in the image is, but it's been an interesting, challenging, and ultimately joyful experience sharing a year with her.
Sian Robertson
Some References
45 - February 14th: Valentine's Day
61 - March 1st: St. David's Day in Wales
92 - April 1st: April Fools Day
100 - April 9th: Inspired by Constance Black at the Provincetown Art Association and Museum
114 - April 23rd: Shakespeare's Birthday
164 - June 12th: Pulse Nightclub Attack in Orlando
181 - June 29th: My Birthday
186 - July 4th: Fourth of July
192, 193 & 194 - July 10th, 11th & 12th: Inspired by Geoffrey Farmer at the ICA in Boston
209 - July 27th: The Day my Show Opened at Adam Peck Gallery in Provincetown
211 - July 29th: The Day of the Opening Reception of my Show at Adam Peck Gallery in Provincetown
212 - July 30th: The Day after the Opening Reception of my Show at Adam Peck Gallery in Provincetown
255 - September 11th: Anniversary of 9/11
305 - October 31st: Halloween
311 - November 6th: Daylight Savings Ended
313 - November 8th: Election Day
314, 315 & 316 - November 9th, 10th &11th: Post Election Day
353 - December 18th: Inspired by Mickalene Thomas
359 - December 24th: Christmas Eve
360 - December 25th: Christmas Day
366 - December 31st: The Last Day of 2016
View the images.