Cohort 52 is a platform for emerging voices from the Applied Art & Design program at Sierra College in Northern California. Cohort 52 is facilitated by Assistant Professor Vincent Pacheco.
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
My name is KC Endeman (she/her). I have a BA in psychology and social behavior from UC Irvine and hold a California multiple subject teaching credential from Sac State. I have been teaching for 25+ years and since my oldest child started school I have been working with homeschooling families through a public non-classroom based charter school. My interest in creative endeavors and design led me to handling all design work for the 3 schools in our system. Now I work 125% (75% in design/branding, 25% social media, and 25% teacher working with students). I am entirely self-taught and have begun working on the Graphic Design Certificate of Achievement so that I can shake off some of my imposter syndrome and be more efficient at my job.
How much experience do you have with collage?
I have done some collage with students and in scrapbooking applications but nothing like we are doing now.
Collage artists tend to be picky when it comes to their source material. Can you talk about your approach for selecting your images and/or publications?
I used a variety of magazines (Elle, Vogue, Food Network, Better Homes & Gardens, People, etc.). I wish I had had more access to some art books or fine art scraps.
Were there any large themes you intended to explore or unpack before you began with this series of work? Did you stay on theme, or did things change as you began physically cutting and pasting images?
I started just looking through the publications I had access to, and then collecting more old magazines via my location Buy Nothing group. As I found more interesting pages my theme started to build. I thought I would do more collage about LBGTQIA+ identities and rights but the source material I had access to did not lend itself well to that theme.
How did your background and life experiences inform your collages?
My experience as a middle-aged mom was crucial to my theme. I explored the themes and concepts that are familiar to myself and my friends in the same life stage.
What was your environment and set-up like when making the work? Did you listen to music? Did you work in isolation, or were you surrounded by distraction? Do you think this influenced the work you made?
I am almost always surrounded by distraction, kind of part of my theme. Wearing noise canceling headphones, I usually listen to music or watch videos or shows while doing tasks like the collage project.
Scissors or X-Acto?
Mostly scissors, x-acto is difficult to manage with pain I often have in my hands and fingers.
Was there anything unexpected that emerged while creating your work? Any new epiphanies?
I feel like my theme came across much angrier than I think I actually am. I love being a mom and a spouse and I do not resent the ways I love on my family. Although I wouldn’t mind not always being the one to figure out what is for dinner and make sure all the groceries in the house. That is exhausting. These people do not stop eating.
Looking at your work again, has your understanding of your collages changed over time? Has any hidden meaning emerged?
My feeling about my collages was greatly improved after receiving positive feedback from our professor.
Many artists are using the pandemic as a moment to pause and reflect. Do you think Covid-19 informed your work in any way?
Covid continues to affect and inform my life and work because I have been mostly sequestered at home since February 2020 because of my immune deficiency.
