Collage Process
Introduction
- Jonny Garcia
- Born and raised in Brazil. Moved to Canada 10 years ago.
- Education: Computer Systems in Brazil and Canada, Psychoanalyst in Brasil.
- Artist background: circus, magic, hypnosis, dance, visual arts (collage).
Currently, what I do:
- Work full time as a Computer Analyst in the financial industry.
- Collages.
- Dance: Contact Improvisation and Salsa.
- Analog game development.
My areas of interest are:
- Organization and productivity.
- Performative arts.
- Psychology.
Collage Practice
- My journey into the world of collage art commenced in 2019, inspired by a transformative visit to Toshiko Okanoue's exhibition The Miracle of Silence in Tokyo, Japan.
- Approximately two years later, I delved into the realm of analog collages.
- Currently, my repertoire contains 36 analog collages and over 500 digital creations.
- The constraints inherent in analog collage fail to captivate me fully. I find myself drawn to the limitless possibilities of digital art, where I can effortlessly modify elements to precisely convey my thoughts and inspirations.
Phases
Overall, I believe my artistic practice has evolved through three distinct stages:
- Exploration: This phase was purely experimental, closely resembling analog collage. Digital resources were minimally utilized, primarily for resizing. It was a brief exploratory period.
- Design: This phase emerged after studying design. The resulting pieces often feature flat backgrounds and prioritize visual harmony. They share many similarities with analog collage in their aesthetic approach.
- Blend: Shifting the focus towards creating artworks where elements seamlessly merge. It fully utilizes all digital capabilities.
Exploration
Work, 2019, Jonny Garcia
Body as Prison, 2019, Jonny Garcia
Design
Epiphany, 2019, Jonny Garcia
Consumption, 2019, Jonny Garcia
Analog
Discharging Waste, 2023, Corporeal Gestures, Jonny Garcia
Blending
Apologies, 2020, Jonny Garcia
1,000,000, 2020, Jonny Garcia
Bler, 2021, Jonny Garcia
Projects
Self
This series aims to document significant moments in my life. Each collage prominently features my face, strategically covered. The goal is to be an ongoing project until the end of my life. The title consistently follows the pattern of YMMMY. Presently, there are 22 collages.
2JUN3, 2023, Self, Jonny Garcia
Context: Whe I started dancing salsa
2FEB2, 2022, Self, Jonny Garcia
Context: Eye surgery
2AUG2, 2022, Self, Jonny Garcia
Context: When I contracted Covid while traveling
Portraits
This project aims to create artistic portraits of significant individuals in my life. The representations are symbolic and not focused on realism. The titles follow a pattern of using the first letter of the person's name along with a word that reflects how I perceive them. Currently, there are 5 collages.
MVision, 2021, Portraits, Jonny Garcia
FChallenge, 2021, Portraits, Jonny Garcia
JDetermination, 2021, Portraits, Jonny Garcia
Songs
I find joy in music, and occasionally, I channel that passion into creating collages inspired by songs. Typically, my focus lies more in connection with the melody rather than the lyrics. For this particular series, the creative process involves immersing myself in the chosen song for at least a couple of hours on loop before translating the musical essence into visual art. Currently, there are 15 collages in this series.
Amei Te Ver by Thiago York, Songs, 2022, Jonny Garcia
Trem das Onze by Adoniram Barbosa, 2022, Songs, Jonny Garcia
Exagerado by Cazuza, 2022, Songs, Jonny Garcia
Corporeal Gestures
Exhibition April 4 through 29, 2022
Corporeal Gesture was an exhibition curated by Clive Knights, focusing on submissions related to the nine muses associated with bodily necessities. To establish a cohesive visual language for the project, I opted for statues, geometric shapes, and flat, single-colour backgrounds.
In response to the stipulation for analog collages only, I employed a digital design approach to craft the compositions. The backgrounds were either hand-painted or layered with paper. Furthermore, the geometric shapes, were fashioned from paper.
Among the nine pieces, my artwork titled "Procreating" was selected for inclusion in the exhibition.
Corporeal Gestures Collection, 2019, digital collages
From left to right:
- Breathing
- Nourishing
- Sleeping
- Discharging Waste
- Procreating
- Resisting the earth’s pull
- Communicating
- Aging
- Dying
Discharging Waste, 2019, Corporeal Gestures, Jonny Garcia
digital vs analog
Willian Talbot Collage Book
In the year 2021, I acquired a captivating book titled "William H Fox Talbot - Inventor of the Negative-Positive Process Photography Men and Movements."
Upon acquiring the book, I extracted all pages featuring images, while the remaining pages were transformed into frames. Harnessing the visual elements from these pages, I crafted 10 digital collages.
Upon finalizing the designs, I carefully assembled the collages on a sleek black substrate. Subsequently, the completed collages were seamlessly integrated back into the pages of the book.
Collage Year Book
Around January, I curate a selection of 20 to 25 collages, culminating in the production of a yearbook.
Praxis
Attending the Collage in Practice Workshop hosted by the Kolaj Institute highlighted my established process for documenting my art.
The creative journey consists of two integral aspects: the hands-on act of creating collages and the administration that follows.
Inspiration
In the last 6 months, my artistic process has become clear. Here are some of the reason I make art:
Exploring Negative Resonance:
- When there is a topic that resonates with me negatively, collage becomes a means of exploration and expression.
Visual Expression of Inexpressible Emotions:
- The most common reason is to visually express what I cannot put into words, a challenge associated with Alexithymia. After the collage is created, I can analyze it externally, gaining insights into why it was made in the first place.
Project-based Work:
- Engaging in specific projects which impose structure and direction to the work.
Collage Details - Making
- The primary source for all images is Unsplash, with the exception being when I incorporate pictures of individuals I personally know.
- Standardizing the dimensions, all works are crafted in a 13x19 vertical format, influenced by the constraints of my available printer.
- Utilizing an iPad and Apple Pencil on the Procreate app, each collage comes to life through a digital creative process.
- Each completed collage is marked with a date stamp, while the backup provides additional information on the moment it was saved.
Style
Digital tools enable the application of techniques that are challenging to replicate in analog formats. I delve into the process of eliminating contrast commonly created when juxtaposing images. Although each individual element remains recognizable, they are distilled to only what is essential for conveying meaning.
Colour is intentionally applied using a limited and harmonious palette. The human figure, particularly bodies, hands, and faces, is a recurrent element in my work, blended with abstract paintings and set against unobtrusive backgrounds. This fusion of diluted elements creates a visual synergy that goes beyond the sum of its parts, giving rise to a cohesive new image.
Administrative Work
- The original digital file is consistently saved in the cloud for secure storage.
- Upon completion, the collage is exported as a high-resolution JPG file and stored across various platforms including online repositories, my phone, and iPad.
- The cataloging process is implemented in Obsidian:
- This involves creating a file titled: "Collage - Name of the Collage."
- An Instagram link is inserted.
- The collage is comprehensively described using hashtags, incorporating the year of creation. Here are some of the benefits of this process:
- Facilitating future retrieval.
- Identifying recurring patterns.
- Highlighting the persistence of certain elements.
- A recent addition involves documenting the inspiration behind the collage and relevant context.
- The finalized collage is then published on both Instagram and my Digital Garden.
Contact
https://jonnygarcia.netlify.app/
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