Art Talk—What Is Mixed Media? by Linda Kay—Visual Art Instructor

Art Talk—What is Mixed Media? By Linda Kay—Visual Art Instructor

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I have been asked to explain exactly what Mixed Media artwork really is many times. It is both an easy and a complex answer, so I thought it was time for an Art Talk about it. Simply, Mixed Media is a piece of artwork that employs more than one type of art media into the work. It can be as simple as a graphite pencil drawing with Watercolor paints on a piece of paper. More complexly it can also be a large sculpture made up with found objects from beach trash glued together on a series of boards and incorporate fabrics, plastics and epoxy to hold it all together. For me, Mixed Media is a way of creating artwork and using whatever art mediums and every day objects I wish to use in order to create the vision I have. I am only limited by my imagination and what will stick together, which leaves me a lot of freedom and room in which to create. Mixed Media is a rather new area of artwork if you look back at art history, which has roots to the 1800’s and more modern cultures. Before Mixed Media art appeared, more traditional practices and art

which was acceptable by the leading galleries and art schools were the standards of which artist were re- quired to work. They could not show their work unless it met certain rules and criterial by “official” art- world leaders. This was a way of controlling what the public could see, what was considered proper and what would sell and who could exhibit. These rules and the people who made them were quite confining and controlling. A movement made by artists to move away from these rulings and restrictions began in the latter half of the 1800’s with the creation of Impressionism and Photography, two very opposing artistic disci- plines. One being very abstract, the other being very precise. These two art practices opened up a lot of possibilities and conversations for artists on what exactly is artwork and what is considered acceptable. It opened up a revolt against the ruling class and allowed freedom of artistic expression for the sake of art.

The first piece of fine art considered to be Mixed Media is a piece created by Pablo Picasso, “Still Life with Chair Caning”, in 1912. He, along with his artist friend Georges Braque, developed Collage and Mixed Media in response to the different art movements popular at the time. They played around with unusual materials in order to create more quickly and to bring new thought and insights into what art can be and how it can be made. Their work was quite controversial and revolutionary at the time, but it has roots to a popular home artmaking practice during the Victorian era.

2 A very popular past time for proper Victorian ladies was creating albums of painted pages with cut outs of photos of friends and family members. An early form of scrapbooking with patterns and in- structions that could be purchased was all the rage of the1880’ s and 1890’s. It was a crafting hobby prac- ticed by many. A very early form of collage and mixed media which was not elevated into fine art for an- other 20+ years. There was a very nice exhibit of these artworks at the Chicago Art Institute in the fall of 2009 called “Playing with Pictures—The Art of Victorian Photocollage.” https://archive.artic.edu/victphotocoll/index.html By taking an acceptable form of crafting and elevating it into a fine art form, mixed media has be- come very popular. It has been a revolutionary change to the art world which has opened up our thoughts and concepts of what art is in a way that no other change has created.

There are four main types of Mixed Media that can identified, but by no means are they strictly limited or confined by these descriptions.

• Collage—the artform of combining different types of materials such as photos, newsprint, fibers and paints into a piece of artwork.

• Assemblage—a 3-dimensional variation of collage which uses dimensional object or creates a dimensional object in its creations. Can be sculptural or extend beyond its substrate.

• Found Object Art—the use of objects that are found and considered artistic in their elemental state or adds artistic properties to a piece of artwork.

• Altered Books—an altered or modified book that creates a new statement. Can be carved, folded, collaged, assemblage or any number of alterations.

3 Lets explore each category of Mixed Media a bit and how they are used today. There are so many examples of these types of artworks and there really is no limit to what can be created.

Collage is normally a 2 dimensional creation on a flat base using paints, inks, art mediums like molding paste and gel mediums. It also combines images from printed materials like magazines, newspa- pers and printed papers. It can be soft and sweet and pretty like the example above on the left. It can also be a creation that stuns the eyes and senses and causes you to stop, think and see the world in a new way like the photo collage above on the right. Both of these examples are acceptable ways of ex- pressing art ideas in mixed media and both are equally acceptable as artwork. That right there, is the freedom that Mixed Media has allowed artists to express themselves in their artwork.

4 Assemblage is a combination of collage and assembling dimensional and flat items onto a base. The added items can be sticking out away from the base or can be formed into a sculptural object. The practice of assemblage was made popular by a shy and odd man from New York named Joseph Cornell. He created baked dimensional boxes which he filled with items he would collect on trips to second hand and crafting shops all over New York City. A favorite concept of his was making interactive boxes where the viewer could manipulate the enclosed items by moving and shifting the box around. A current popular artform of assemblage is to use items that are used once and meant to be thrown away afterwards, quite often plastics. This process is called- Up Cycling and gives the material a new life that is more permanent. It is a way of protesting the temporary use of items.

5 Found Object Art can be collage, assemblage or sculptural in its form. Items often found in the environment are used to create artwork and often is a statement of the wastefulness and carelessness of the world. It can be grungy, messy and often makes you think about the artwork.

The artwork on the left is a sculptural piece made with discarded credit cards and CDs. It is a statement on the wastefulness and excesses of our habits of consumerism. The sharp points speak of how dangerous these practices of consumerism are and how you can be harmed by too much. In this case, Mixed Media has enabled the artist to create artwork that is nice to look at, a highly creative use of materials and is a statement on consumerism. This is a way that artists can express themselves like never before.

6 Altered Books is a division of Mixed Media all in its own category because of the use of books as its substrate. Altered books are fascinating and interesting in their creativity and inventiveness. By fold- ing, cutting, carving and displaying books, all sorts of creativity can be achieved. A story within a story can be made by selecting books with a theme or a subject matter.

I personally find these type of altered books fascinating and admire the artist’s creativity to be able to see and create these type of artworks.

7 Mixed Media Artwork is now firmly rooted in modern art. It evolves and changes as society changes. It is a wonderful way to create and view artwork that excites the eyes and the senses. It allows for so much more ways of self expression than any other form of artwork has in the past. It can be fun and whimsical, serious and thought provoking, or it can be a window into an unseen world filled with mystery and imagination. I encourage you to experiment with Mixed Media art and learn how to incorporate it into your own creative expressions. It is a passion of mine and why I teach Mixed Media at the Senior Center. There is a wealth of information and techniques available in books, videos and online classes. Take some time to explore and learn more about it. Visit a museum to see what has been done in the past and what is cur- rently available. Be open to new ideas and ways of artistic expression through mixed media art.