Collage
This week all WKAG groups participated in a collage workshop. The studies produced were fabulous. The purpose of the session was to learn how to use collage to understand how shape, pattern, and composition aid our understanding of painting. We used the work of Braque to inspire us and I think that it would be beneficial for us to look in detail at his work and to try and unravel their meaning and the intention of the artist. The ‘Studio’ series of his works are informed by cubism and in that sense Braque remained pretty fixed within this area, unlike Picasso who dabbled in surrealism and other genres before committing himself to a reinvention of cubist ideas in his later works. If you look closely at the ‘studio’ series - perspective in a conventional sense is abandoned as is the depiction of representational ‘form.’ This allows Braque the freedom to invent shapes and patterns that are an equivalent of his ‘experience’ of his studio. Collage allowed us to simplify our approach and it was an exercise that enabled us to consider how to make a painting using these methods that will certainly assist when organising your compositions when working with your own ideas in a representational manner. Have a close look at the two paintings attached I’ve included the Studio painting that we looked at yesterday as well as an earlier work from the same series.
I’ve also attached an article by John Richardson about Braque.