MAKING COPIES FOR COLLAGE

Atargatis, a Mature Goddess Figure Connected with The Sea. B & W Copies on Rice Paper,  Chine Colle. © by R. Zachary

Copies for Collage

This piece, created in the late 1980s, was planned to be run as a limited edition, and was adhered to Stonehenge Printmaking Paper using a press, in a process known as chine colle. Flour based paste was used to bond the wet papers as one. Artists were just beginning to try new technology, and I had a new Canon Copier.

Chine Colle is a process very similar to Collage, and I am showing it on this blog in connection with this Collage Series, to remind people that it is still possible to extend the use of limited imagery by making copies, either with a copy machine, or with a computer. Note the ability to repeat images by making multiple copies, and how repetition creates movement and carries the eye as a compositional device. 

Once the copies were made on acid free rice paper, I cut the pieces out and they were arranged into the composition. Then the image was adhered to rag paper in the press, using the chine colle method.  Because images are brought together and adhered to one surface, it is both a collage and a montage

While you are at it, you might as well make the copies on good paper. I recommend using rice papers, mulberry paper, and for ink jet prints, Epson lightweight matte paper. Epson inks are more colorfast than many other printing inks. These papers retain images well when used with acrylic medium and varnish.

Some copy images are adhered to paper by wax emulsion and heat. This type of image will not run when wet.

Some rice papers will cause pigments to run because these are not treated to keep the inks in place on wet paper. Again an accident can be a bonus - I sometimes use this quality to create watercolor effects on collage papers. One way to slow down this runny characteristic is to spray the image lightly with spray varnish or lacquer. Let it dry in the open air before using it in collage.

Experiment first, by taking a small sample and adhering it to mat board. Prints on Epson papers don't move, but tend to turn more intense and dark, so the original used needs to be somewhat lighter in value to have the desired result in the collage. 

 The Scanner or Copy Machine Used as Camera:

Below is another limited edition print I made using the copier as a camera, I made copies of my printmaking apron, my  crocheted homemaker's apron, pictures of my lady shoes, and of my print maker's boots which I wore in my studio. 

I was torn between being a wife, mother, and artist, and wanted in some ways to cut the apron strings. The mother bird with the brood was symbolic of needing to care for family needs first. Although I love abstraction, I also love realistic imagery because of things I want to say, when images are used as metaphors. Note: This image was used previously on 2-28-2014 on this blog. The brown tones were a feature of the Canon Copier.

Apron Strings, 14x17". Chine Colle.  Using Copier as a Camera                                        © by Ruth Zachary

All Images and Writing are the Copyright  © of Ruth Zachary and are not to be reproduced without written permission from the Artist/ Author.