Most of us have made a collage in art class. Cutting images out of paper and gluing them together to make something new seems like something anyone can do.
But in the hands of a dedicated artist, collage can become an intriguing expression of the world around us.
For Inside The Arts this week, WKAR’s Scott Pohl talks with Jane Rosemont. She’s showing a collection of her collages through late July in Lansing.
Artist Jane Rosemont is best known for her work in photography and documentary filmmaking, but along the way, she has always made collages.
Part of what she says she likes about the medium is that when she starts a piece, she doesn’t have something specific in mind. “I call it play,” she explained, “which isn’t to say that I don’t take it seriously, but I play with the shapes. Maybe I’m into color that day, or maybe I’m into shapes, or oh, here’s a bunch of circley things, or, you know, and I just create without any thought of what it will become.”
The whimsical nature of her collage work is on full display at the Nelson Gallery in downtown Lansing in an exhibition called “Relatives You Didn’t Know You Had.”
The title came to her when she realized that each piece she’d chosen for this show had a human being in it.“It’s a playful commentary, really, that when you look at someone else, you have something in common,” Rosemont continued. “I don’t know. There’s one that’s juggling, she’s juggling too many things. Who in your family do you know that’s always juggling something? Usually, it’s like mom in the kitchen. It did just come to me. It’s like these are, these are my relatives.”
Rosemont uses old books, her own photos and vintage pictures she’s grabbed for cheap to construct her collages. She says she doesn’t hoard her material, but the process of creating her pieces can take a while. Rosemont went on to say “There are some pieces here that have taken me, from start to finish, a year and a half…not because they’re all that complicated, but because I didn’t know where to take the next step. I never just glue something to glue something.”
That lack of rush is also why she feels there’s something soothing about making collages. She loves the sound of scissors cutting, of paper tearing, and the sloshing of glue. It’s pleasingly tactile work. “I cut it. I paste it. I don’t care if you see little bits of glue, or the tear,” she added. “That’s what collage is. It’s organic. That’s my signature, you know, any little flaw or wrinkle.”
Well-known locally from her time living and working in Lansing and Okemos from the late 1970s to 2010, Rosemont is now based in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She still has lots of friends here, and considers this the place where she became an artist. “There are so many great artists in this town, and they inspired me,” Rosemont concluded. “I have some great friends I’m still in touch with, so it seemed natural to do this. And it was exciting, because I have exhibited photographs, I have played my films here, but this is collage, and they’re originals!”
She has shown prints of her collages over the years, but this show is made up of those original pieces she thought she’d never part with.
The Nelson Gallery is also truly a homecoming for Jane Rosemont, who had an earlier exhibition in the same space back when it was the location of the Lansing Art Gallery.
The gallery will show “Relatives You Didn’t Know You Had” through July 27.
With Inside The Arts, I’m Scott Pohl.
Upcoming Arts Events:
The Stan Craig Band will bring “A Night of Blues” to Urban Beat in Old Town Lansing tonight, starting at 7 p.m.
Recent Grand Ole Opry inductee Suzy Bogguss is at The Ark in Ann Arbor tonight for a show that begins at 8.
On Saturday, the band Four Horsemen will be at Grewal Hall in Lansing for a show described as an “album-quality Metallica experience.” Doors will open at 7 for this all-ages show.
Interview transcript:
Scott Pohl: Most of us have made a collage in art class. Cutting images out of paper and gluing them together to make something new seems like something anyone can do.
But in the hands of a dedicated artist, collage can become an intriguing expression of the world around us.
For Inside The Arts this week, I talk with Jane Rosemont. She’s showing a collection of her collages through late July in Lansing.
Artist Jane Rosemont is best known for her work in photography and documentary filmmaking, but along the way, she has always made collages. Part of what she says she likes about the medium is that when she starts a piece, she doesn’t have something specific in mind.
Jane Rosemont: I call it play, which isn’t to say that I don’t take it seriously, but I play with the shapes. Maybe I’m into color that day, or maybe I’m into shapes, or oh, here’s a bunch of circley things, or, you know, and I just create without any thought of what it will become.
Scott Pohl: The whimsical nature of her collage work is on full display at the Nelson Gallery in downtown Lansing in an exhibition called “Relatives You Didn’t Know You Had.” The title came to her when she realized that each piece she’d chosen for this show had a human being in it.
Jane Rosemont: It’s a playful commentary, really, that when you look at someone else, you have something in common. I don’t know. There’s one that’s juggling, she’s juggling too many things. Who in your family do you know that’s always juggling something? Usually, it’s like mom in the kitchen. It did just come to me. It’s like these are, these are my relatives.
Scott Pohl: Rosemont uses old books, her own photos and vintage pictures she’s grabbed for cheap to construct her collages. She says she doesn’t hoard her material, but the process of creating her pieces can take a while. Rosemont went on to say:
Jane Rosemont: There are some pieces here that have taken me, from start to finish, a year and a half…not because they’re all that complicated, but because I didn’t know where to take the next step. I never just glue something to glue something.
Scott Pohl: That lack of rush is also why she feels there’s something soothing about making collages. She loves the sound of scissors cutting, of paper tearing, and the sloshing of glue. It’s pleasingly tactile work.
Jane Rosemont: I cut it. I paste it. I don’t care if you see little bits of glue, or the tear. That’s what collage is. It’s organic. That’s my signature, you know, any little flaw or wrinkle.
Scott Pohl: Well-known locally from her time living and working in Lansing and Okemos from the late 1970s to 2010, Rosemont is now based in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She still has lots of friends here, and considers this the place where she became an artist.
Jane Rosemont: There are so many great artists in this town, and they inspired me. I have some great friends I’m still in touch with, so it seemed natural to do this. And it was exciting, because I have exhibited photographs, I have played my films here, but this is collage, and they’re originals!
Scott Pohl: She has shown prints of her collages over the years, but this show is made up of those original pieces she thought she’d never part with.
The Nelson Gallery is also truly a homecoming for Rosemont, who had an earlier exhibition in the same space back when it was the location of the Lansing Art Gallery.
The gallery will show “Relatives You Didn’t Know You Had” through July 27.
With Inside The Arts, I’m Scott Pohl.
