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 Liam, that’s probably the most crucial detail to remember; I’m currently majoring in visual design.
How much experience do you have with collage?
Not much experience frankly, this is my first year producing college art so hopefully if I answer another question like this in a few years I’ll have exponentially more.
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?
Nothing super esoteric, most of the work I got my source materials from was old books of Michelangelo’s old art with some other biblical stuff mixed in, then on top of that just some old nature magazines and some shopping catalogs.
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?
Yes, many themes are covered over the course of the magazine but the biggest and most prevailing ideas (at least to me) was the referencing to life after death and the separation of God & man.
How did your background and life experiences inform your collages?
I think a big prerogative of using the biblical art was to more effectively sell & convey the themes of the magazine I was trying to effectively convey; and as someone formerly catholic it felt partially cathartic to use.
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?
For the production of my pieces for the vast majority of the time I was just in my room listening to music for most of the time I spent on it; I listened to a mix of heavy metal and the more calmer things I listen to.
Scissors or X-Acto?
Both actually, it was circumstantial whether or not my trusty scissors or the X-acto blade would warrant easier to glue pieces.
Was there anything unexpected that emerged while creating your work? Any new epiphanies?
The only epiphanies I had during the production of my zine was me realizing just how much time you have on a project truly makes or breaks whatever it is you’re doing. If I had a bit more time I could have gotten a few of my pieces to better reflect what I had in mind.
Looking at your work again, has your understanding of your collages changed over time? Has any hidden meaning emerged?
No, they all tell the same story as when they were created. My only hope is that it’s as easy as it is for me to understand each piece as it is for everyone else.
