Interview: Arianne

In conversation with lo-fi collage art and antique photography and paper collector Arianne.

Can you talk about your journey into or interest the arts?

My trajectory in art goes back to the end of 2014, when I started to collage by representing dreams that I could not draw. Soon I found myself cutting out magazines, flyers and any other type of paper, using old pictures I’ve always collected… with time I realised it was something I’d been doing before I knew it name was mail art.

Step by step and with work I’ve been taking part… in the collage community, meeting other artist who also dedicated themselves to this. After a few collective exhibitions in London, Madrid, Barcelona and Edinburgh, I have got the opportunity of exhibiting my own pieces in a solo show in Madrid.

I continued working and soon I became more projects arrived. My work has been reviewed in different magazines meanwhile I got the invitation to participate in Mexico’s first International Collage Festival in 2019. (I was invited! to to exhibit next to really famous and talented collage artists!). Following the festival in Mexico, came the invitation to be part of a small group of women artists to exhibit at the Women Museum in Wiesbaden, Germany. The show was called ‘Elementarteilchen / Elementary Particles’.

These events marked a before and after in my artistic life, because I was faced myself with the professionalisation of what I was doing. Currently, I find myself developing a personal project in which I’ve been working for approximately two years now and in which I have high hopes of reaching a whole new territory.

Besides that, in recent times, I’ve been experimenting with other kind of substrate such as wood, mixed-media such acrylic paint on paper and other materials, but as I said, at the moment is all about experimenting. I’m experimenting and everything sums up, always in experience. I keep working and looking for my path to know what kind of collage artists I am.

Do you use a sketchbook? I’m interested in what a sketchbook means to you and your work?

Yes, of course I use sketchbook, but I don’t use them for drawing like it is normally use to. I cut out and paste ‘similar’ pieces of what I want to create next. A sketchbook is very important to put my thoughts in order. I do not use it, but is something that has been in my practice since the beginning.

When I travel, it always keeps every kind of papers I get (underground, bus, coach tickets, boarding passes, flyers…) or I items find on the street…I always keep all that in my sketchbooks to make collages or, like I said before, to illustrate my day to day. It’s a source of constant inspiration for me. As I go back to the I see how I have been developing myself as an artist and which could be my next creative step.

Can you talk about your process of working. How do you work, how often, is there a particular pattern?

My work process is very simple. I try to dedicate time to collage on a scheduled basis (Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Sundays). It is not easy to keep up with this rhythm, but so far so good!

When I’m travelling the ‘collaging time’ has no limit since I practically dedícate all my time to search for stuff for my work. Magazines, antique shops that sell street posters, antique papers etc. When it comes to sitting down and facing the task of making a collage it’s quite simple. Often I’ve got something – a very concrete idea in mind, so I try to do it. Other times I sit in front of a lot of material and I investigate what I can do with it without any previous thought.

Do you find the process of creating work relaxing or therapeutic? I’ve become increasingly interested in the relationship of the sketchbook and the work to the artist.

Relaxing and therapeutic. Both absolutely. And I’m glad you’ve asked me this question because it’s something I always say and not many people understand. I think it’s very important, because one of the reasons I’ve been continually making collage since 2014 it is also how well it makes me feel. With every paper cut I felt I get rid of any trace of anxiety, sadness or worry. That’s why I always use the words ‘therapeutic’ and ‘healing’ when I talk about collage, because for me it’s something highly related. I also find it relaxing, after I’ve finished a piece that I’ve dedicated some time and effort to – I feel extremely relaxed. It’s like going to the gym after you’ve worked out, you feel completely relaxed. For me all this is like having my own therapist or psychoanalyst.

Your work focusses on photography and collage, often using historical or nostalgic elements. Can you talk about this and how it came about as a body of work?

Yes, I use antique photographs in my work, but I usually use paper. Paper has those nostalgic dyes and hints of the past. I get most of them from flea markets and I like to use this elements just because like them.