Soul Collage: My Savage Garden.

Every day we are bombarded by hundreds if not thousands of images that are unwanted and at times offensive to our senses. You can’t open your favorite social media without seeing commercials for more stuff. From an early age, we are taught that to be happy you need to acquire material objects; who can have the newest, biggest, shiniest item that money can buy. Often times this leaves us stressed, overworked, and generally miserable. Images and pictures have been important all throughout history as a form of communication, today we still see this with the use of advertisements everywhere we look. Below is a short clip of images that we may have all seen at one time or another, and has become a social norm to view, something that we just put up with because we have no choice in the matter.

Don’t let your television rape your eyes and senses.

What if we were to surround ourselves with images of our own choosing; photos that produce some kind of emotion, whether it be good or bad? The pages in my artist book is a collection of images that I found to have some type of emotional response to me. Some are meant to be upsetting, others are meant to be pleasing. The important thing is that I am surrounding myself with images of my choosing and not ones that are forced upon me. Plus I get to feel good that I am recycling magazines instead of throwing them into landfills as well.

Soul Collage Cards are meant to help you deal with emotions and feelings that you can’t seem to express in words. Not only do you get to have fun like a child again, cutting with scissors and using glue, but this form of art therapy helps you to cut up some of these images you are often bombarded with, and make them into something enjoyable and often time beautiful, for yourself.

Austin-Bassett: Artist Statement

My Inner Soul’s image.

When you look into your soul what do you see? Welcome to my Inner Soul and the Demons I hide inside. Stay and browse and see what you will.

Art can be the outlet you need to release the demons that are gnawing at your brain. Ripping, Cutting, Glueing, let these simple acts be the release that you need. All that’s required is some old magazines, scissors and glue, and a bit of your time.

Soul Collage is often a tool used in group therapies but is something that can be done in the comfort of your own home. You can assemble your cards with purpose or purely without thought, either way, the relaxing use of art to express your emotions is both therapeutic and fun. Once you have a good size deck established, now is the time to ask the cards your life’s questions and hopefully get some helpful answers.

For my own deck, I found great photo material amongst discarded magazines, such as National Geographics (after all they have the best photos out there), along with other random nature, travel and women’s magazines. The cardboard backings and plastic covers can be bought online at either crafts stores or the official soul collage website, which I’ve included in a link below. It is up to you what size you want your cards to be, I found that the standard 5″x8″ was more than enough room to express what I needed to show.

Once you have a good size “deck” of cards completed the next stage of this project is underway, journaling. It is helpful to look at your cards and to ask them this simple question, “Who are you? What are you trying to tell me?” You will be surprised that even the most simple of cards can have the deepest meanings. This is where the true therapy begins, where you can start to deal with your emotions and issues.

Here is a website with information to get you started along with a place to buy supplies if you are interested.
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