Plexiglass, paper, Approx. 6 x 6 x 0.125 in.
Melanie Garcia's collages offer a reflection on identity, existence, and place. Through elements like reaching hands and hidden figures, her work captures the delicate dance between memory and present, inviting viewers into a contemplative dialogue on life's complexities. Garcia stands out for her ability to merge personal and universal themes within her tactile explorations.
Mixed media collage, 14 x 11 in.
"As a Montreal-born Filipina photo collage artist with a background in styling and film, my work reflects on unconscious or imagined spaces. I use collage as a way to process personal queries by exploring the metaphysical, myth-making, and memory. Dreamlike narratives are created with found photos, image transfers, paper ephemera and mark making. Doorways are recurring symbols of place and transition suggesting new passageways or in-between states. When merging abstract forms, natural elements and human figures, I construct liminal spaces that are somewhere as much as nowhere, questioning a place of belonging."
Plexiglass, paper, approx. 6 x 6 x 0.125 in.
"My background as a stylist has informed my use of color, composition and aesthetics in my collages, while my studies in film have influenced the narrative quality of my work. I hope to create thought-provoking works that invite viewers to explore their own subconscious and to consider the ways in which our experiences shape our perceptions and relationships of the world around us."
Mixed media collage on Donvale paper, 12 x 9 in.
Mixed media collage on Canson paper, 14 x 11 in.
"The themes of my collages vary: many are daily contemplations, current narratives I'm experiencing or reflections of what might be going on in the world around me. Many are about existentialism and our connection to a place or the environment with some leaning into notions of memory and identity and what that looks like for me."
Plexiglass, paper, oil stick, Approx. 6 x 6 x 0.125 in.
"I’m inspired by so many things. Poetic cinema and surrealist art are inspirational in setting a tone or narrative and creating a mood. I love minimalism though I'm far from being a minimalist or creating minimalist work. I think negative space is significant for letting works breathe."
Mixed media collage on Canson paper, 14 x 11 in.
Melanie Garcia is currently based in Montreal (Tiohtià:ke), Quebec, Canada.
For Your Viewing Pleasure
A collaboration between artists Bora Akinciturk and Iain Ball, ‘Skee’, curated by Cem Hamlacıbaşı, vaunts the emo, magpie aesthetics of an early Myspace era. But the show isn’t entirely rooted in the past. Playing from a MacBook Pro at the head of the mattress, a compilation by memesforkids drags up videos of generations responding to each other.
Sara Yukiko Mon (b. 1996), is a multidisciplinary artist and designer living and working in Brooklyn, New York. She graduated from UCLA with a BA in Design | Media Arts in 2018. In her work she often plays with themes of humor and absurdity in the mundane as well as her love of all things nostalgic.
Erin Jane Nelson lives and works in Atlanta, GA. In 2011 she received her BFA from The Cooper Union. Recent solo exhibitions include the Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia, Atlanta, GA (2021); DOCUMENT, Chicago, IL (2020); Chapter NY, New York, NY (2023); and Atlanta Contemporary Art Center, Atlanta, GA (2019).
Angel Otero was born in 1981 in Santurce, Puerto Rico, where he resided until moving to Chicago in 2004. He currently splits his time between New York and Puerto Rico. In 2009, Otero was included in the exhibition ‘Constellations’ at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, shortly after receiving his MFA at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Peter Reginato, (American, b. 1945) is a sculptor working in steel. His abstract forms employ a variety of textures and colors, grouping together painted (and sometimes perforated or folded) metal shapes in a collage-like fashion. The shapes are sometimes layered, but are often connected using thin steel pipes allowing individual elements to seemingly move about in space.
Out and About
What to watch, read, and experience, as curated by the Collé team.
READ
Work in Progress with Nick Larsen
Nick Larsen, who gave a talk about his Nevada Museum exhibition last week, explores an invisible history through collage by “pulling from what already exists to visualize something that doesn’t.”
VIEW
Charlie Goering – Collages 2020-2024
Charlie Goering is releasing his new book of collages with Los Angeles publisher Last & Least. The book is 80 pages, 8.5 x 11", printed in full color, perfect bound and limited to only 100 copies.
LISTEN
Penny Goodwin - Portrait of a Gemini
Penny Goodwin began her career singing in church before performing in mob run clubs across Chicago. Despite her significant talent, she released only one studio album which is now celebrated as one of the great American jazz vocal records, highlighting her as Milwaukee's unsung jazz queen.
