Collagio #3
Zine, Lisa Pijuan-Nomura, 16 pgs,collagio.blogspot.com
Artist and collage evangelist Lisa Pijuan-Nomura isn’t going to put up with any bad-mouthing of collage. Simple cut-and-paste? Bah! Pijuan-Nomura is going to set you straight and put you to work! This issue of Collagio opens with a short pro-collage salute, followed by several collage prompts. That way, if you’re not a believer, you can experience what you’re missing out on. Pijuan-Nomura’s prompts are creative and intriguing, and while I haven’t yet tried to follow through on them, the help of the prompts lets me imagine how I would get started.
The centrepiece of the zine is an interview with collage artist Stylo Starr, whose work is also featured in colour on the zine’s cover. Two additional colour collages by Starr follow the interview: brilliant work featuring reframings of vintage images of women of colour, including one of Billie Holiday. Some additional collage prompts and book recommendations round out the zine. This or any issue of Collagio looks to be a great place to start for someone interested in trying collage for the first time. The prompts, while helpful, occupy a lot of space, which makes the zine feel a little thin on content. But Starr’s featured work and Pijuan-Nomura’s encouragement are still likely to ignite some creative sparks in readers.