"Collage is the twentieth century's greatest innovation." - Robert Motherwell

Thank you Mr. Motherwell!  Collage may be the twentieth century's greatest innovation, but in the twentieth first century it sometimes gets a bad rep. I can't tell you how many times someone has come up to me and said, " collage is so easy" or " it just cutting out paper, you can do hundreds in an afternoon!" Really, because I've tried and they look like crap! No matter how much or many you do It takes lots of work to make anything look effortless, just look at any of Matisse's works. Even as a painter he did numerous amount of collages called "gouaches decoupes". He was great, look at all that paper at his feet!  When Matisse became sick with cancer later in his career, he found away to still do what he could no longer do with a brush. It was away of reaching for something new! Checkout last weeks episode of Sunday Morning, and be inspired! 

http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/henri-matisse-and-a-new-art-form 

Artists are trying to figure out how best to get their message to the world. Matisse is a great example, he used collage not as a way out, but as a tool to stay in. We live in best artistic period, where access to all sorts of media and material is at the tips of our fingers. In my practice I have always tried to add an assortment of materials like printmaking, painting, drawing and found fabrics to my works to get the most distance with them.  People may view collage as simple or easy ... I really don't give a shit. What I do care about is answering the bigger questions in my practice. How best to formulate my message so that it doesn't get lost in all the other constructs in the world.