Assemblage is a creative gathering of disparate things – found objects, carved wood, paper ephemera, refrigerator letters, color, etc., assembled into an arrangement that makes sense to the artist. Being a lover of objects just for themselves, I had been gathering found things for years. When I started making assemblages, I assumed I would be digging through this gathering and combining some into new object-scapes. Instead, I discovered that I’m a storyteller with a streak of whimsy.
Many of my assemblages are not just made of found things. Many have underlying structural elements of wire mesh, hand-cut sheet metal, and plywood, surfaced with images researched online, things I carved out of wood, found objects, and handmade paper.
Another artist and I made lists of words and phrases we then used as a springboard to create. I recommend this method to anyone stuck creatively. Some of our words have been Tree, Kerfuffle, Liquid, Contradiction, and Palindrome. Once I have an idea, the fun is figuring out how to create the assemblage. Often, I have to resort to watching YouTube how-to videos in order to make something I couldn’t otherwise figure out.