February 29 – April 26, 2024
Eastern Connecticut State University in Willimantic, Connecticut
The Small Format Exhibit is held by the National Collage Society each year in the spring to showcase small collages. The artwork can be any style but must be exactly 4 x 6 inches.
I really enjoy making something for this exhibit. The size limitation is both challenging and engaging. At that size, each collage piece used must matter; there’s no room for filler or careless thoughts.
This year, I entered “Caught Up In The Moment”, a two-piece collage that is stitched together with a fine gold thread. (See below.)
I found the photo, vintage 1940s, in my box of papers. No idea where it came from. In it, four couples were posed with the girls sitting on the ground in front of the boys.
Seven of the eight people had expressions like you’d expect in a photo of that time: posed, polite, smiling for the camera. But this one girl had an expression like … well, what would you call it? She is not happy about something.
Makes me wonder what happened in the moment that the camera clicked and in the moments leading up to it. You know there must be a story here! I was intrigued.
I surrounded her and her friend with vintagey looking elements that reminded me of that era: flowers, lace, pillows, gardens.
I used fine gold thread to stitch the smaller piece into the larger one, thinking about the fine threads connect us to people around us – family, friends, classmates – and how tenuous those connections can be sometimes.
The Small Format Show runs February 29 to April 26, 2024. Organized by the National Collage Society, the exhibit is held this year at Eastern Connecticut State University, in Willimantic, Connecticut. ww.easternct.edu
If you’re near there, stop in and see the show. It’s always a good exhibit.
