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.
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.
Follow this hyperlink to read Amanda Austin-Bassett’s project statement.