Collecting

As a kid, I was always a big collector of 'things.' Rocks, pez dispensers, dolls, buttons...lots of stuff a typical kid liked to collect. During grad school I studied the act of collecting and used objects from my collections as inspiration for a body of artwork. This also translated to my art classroom where I had fourth graders bring in their collections and then they created work inspired by their collected objects. Here is an image of the collection I used to create my thesis artwork.

You may recognize these dolls from previously posted artwork. I found these dolls and many more at flea markets and thrift stores. Each have unique physical qualities because they have been well-loved or well-used by previous owners.

Now I wanted to show you a few examples of what my art students created. I will post an image of their collection and then the artwork inspired using the objects they collected.

1. This student collected ribbons. She created a narrative in which the ribbons were a family and they had to work together to fend off a burglar. I just LOVE how she painted the burglar (image below) all from her imagination.

2. This student collected rocks. He created a character named "Rocky-ba-Boulder" who was entirely made from rock. Rocky helped to destroy an evil alien space ship.

3. This student collected "Teck-Deck-Dudes." Ever heard of them? I had not until he brought them into class. You can buy them at just about any drugstore and some come with magnetic skateboards. He used his 'Dudes as participants in a marathon. Check out how he zoomed in and then zoomed out of the race. Pretty cool.

Aren't my students awesome? I am curious if any of you were collectors....or maybe you still are? Tell me! I am leaving you with an image from one of my FAVORITE artists, Henry Darger. He was an avid collector (some may say hoarder) of all things (too many to name). I highly recommend that you check him out.