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...jen o'connor's...Artful Adventures & Daily Inspirations

I Love Art, Adore the Handmade and Treasure the Vintage. I am the Fun Mom, the Silly Friend and the Writer who wants to make more room for beauty in the everyday.

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Thursday, March 22, 2007

...assemblage art rocks





















Assemblage art is often incongruous in its components. It can be unsettling in its perfectly, imperfect matches of texture and form. I find myself in love with certain pieces...you know the ones laden with nostalgia, a bit chippy, their assembled bits the worse for wear but fresh in their new form. Provocative, maybe a bit bedraggled, utterly charming and sometimes just plain silly...these are the ones!
What do you think? Do you love the mix and match of it, the collaged feel, the retro elements...

I often look at the hutches around my home. Their displays are constantly changing, morphing in the direction of one holiday and then back again. Every once in a while we yell, "Don't touch the hutch!" This means somehow, through some magic, a wonderful 3-d collage has emerged on the shelves.
The collected elements have combined in a marvelous soup of a display. This too is what assemblage art is like to me. I love the way it holds it own, heralding it's bright diffidence to conformity and beckoning a reaction.
Kitty B is the mistress of assemblage, carefully curating her odd boxes of whimsy by freezing bits of everyday life for inspection. In her art, Kitty elevates castoff tools, misfit toys and leftover tidbits in her celebration of whimsy, selecting and then surrounding them in their own little world of paper and glitter, whimsy and mirth. Calico & Buttons are her two very favorite things, so she’s named these assemblage pieces and framed collages in their celebration. They hang everywhere in my home.

New friends, artists Bill & Marcia Finks concoct funky and fun wall dolls from a bevy of metal findings, castoff doll parts, and forgotten bits of yesterday’s everyday. Their assemblages convey movement despite the rusty oddness of their dashingly askew component parts. These two transform broken rhinestone pins, rusty metal bits, remnants of ribbon and curling wire into delights. The new story, told deftly by their assembled parts, creates an appeal that is charming, nostalgic and just a bit sassy. We are thrilled to be working with them and have just posted their creations to our site!

Lisa Kaus delves into the depths of assemblage with her tinnies and houses. Wood and metal, findings and paint blend seamlessly in her work. In an earlier blog, I showed a detail of one of her assemblage houses sporting the #7 of my home address....I love her and her work too! I cannot wait for her to visit us in May for the 6th annual Spring Soiree...and Lisa, can I have permission to share some images of you in your studio for a future post...I would love to highlight you and your work!

So assemblage art is there for the making. Favorite things collaged, a story to tell in 3-d, memories to hold or create anew, assemblage art makes it possible. And yes I DO WEAR IT! (see prior post!!!) Jill Schwartz's Elements jewelry is assemblage art at its best....just miniature in form. My favorites are the Ovaline Chirp Chain and the Square Beaded Tweet necklaces .
Do tell...do you like it, have you made it, do you think it rocks?
ciao for now!

9 comments:

jessielavon@yahoo.com said...

Hi Jen,
Always enjoy stopping by to see whats new.
I love Lisa's art,think she is one of the best.Hope y'all will come sat a spell on the front porch and visit.

Lori said...

Hi Jen,
Love this post on assemblage art. I had just been looking at the primative twig dolls and I think they are wonderful. Those little skirts crack me up!!

Diane Duda said...

I love Lisa's houses!!!

jessielavon@yahoo.com said...

Hi sweetpea,I just added photos of my new creations,altered hats.I was wearing one shopping today and sold it right off my head.There lots of fumn to create.

Anonymous said...

Especially appreciate the wonderful ladies by Marcia and Bill Fink.

Anonymous said...

I think of home decorating as 'assemblage' art! I LOVE your hutch, so fun, that it evolves and that everyone gets involved!

Lisa Kaus said...

Hey Jen- I love found object and assemblage art!!! There is something so hands on (that touchy feely aspect of found object art that I so love). One of the other things that I love about assemblage, found object art, and you have highlighted it so well is the wonderful diverse mix of materials used within each piece. To me that's what it is all about- Variety is the spice of life- Cheers!!!

Michelle Legler said...

I'm a big fan of Lisa's art! I'm so lucky to own 2 pieces of her assemblage work! I soooooo cherish them! I had a blast creating a mosaic cake for her! Even though we haven't met in person, I consider her a friend.

deb said...

Lisa's work is truly amazing. What a talent!


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