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?
I enjoy doing all things involving creativity, and a lot of themes that I’m inspired by when making art involve a lot of modernism, and simplicity for the most part.
How much experience do you have with collage?
The only experience I have with collage is in this class.
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 wide range of magazines and even some trash from my car.
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 used two major themes for my collages, the affects of late stage capitalism, and the beauty of life.
How did your background and life experiences inform your collages?
My love of nature and life as well as some of my political views informed my collages.
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 did listen to music, r&b and folk. I flipped through magazines and pulled out pages that intrigued me.
Scissors or X-Acto?
I used an x-acto for the small intricate stuff but also ripped larger pieces
Was there anything unexpected that emerged while creating your work? Any new epiphanies?
Not specifically, I did come up with new subjects when seeing pictures I liked.
Looking at your work again, has your understanding of your collages changed over time? Has any hidden meaning emerged?
I definitely have gained a new appreciation for the medium but did not find any new meanings.
Many artists are using the pandemic as a moment to pause and reflect. Do you think Covid-19 informed your work in any way?
The pandemic definitely changed me a lot as a person, I grew far more interested in left-wing politics and with more time to myself gained a new appreciation for nature as much of my time was spent at the river or in our forests.
