We Are All In Pieces
When I’m working on a collage piece and my mind wanders, I often think about the way everything is made up of different parts, and nothing is whole without all its pieces. As people we are a complex puzzle of organs, bones, skin, hair and more, and when you look at everything else in life the story is the same. A landscape is made of hills, mountains, trees, flowers, grass, the sky... Even those simple scenes used when first learning to paint are made up of so many parts – different pieces of fruit, the bowl they sit in, the table, the vase behind full of individual flowers made up of stems, and petals and leaves and thorns…
We Are All In Pieces is a celebration of the way little, seemingly insignificant, things come together to make something much greater.
What We’re looking for from artists:
Collage incorporates so many different styles and mediums, and the exhibition is open to paper collage, fabric collage and mosaics. Paper collage might include using cuttings from magazines, newspapers and books, ripped up packing material, pieces of maps and tissue paper. Fabric collage might include embroidered collage or kinusaiga, and mosaics can incorporate all manner of items. Collages work really well when you mix mediums, so don’t be afraid to incorporate different materials in one piece. Your work can be glued, stitched, pinned, stapled, or joined in whatever way works for you.
Media accepted
Pretty much anything as long as it’s made into a collage. You could be using anything that has been cut, ripped or smashed then assembled into a larger image with other pieces. Every medium mentioned above plus whatever else you can think off.
One of my favourite things about collage is that it often makes use of items that are no longer useful. It allows you to make something amazing out of something that would have been thrown away, and you don’t need lots of expensive supplies to create something that looks great.
limitations or Guidlines
If your art is designed to be hung then it should be framed with standard fittings and no larger than A4. If your art is 3D, or designed to stand on a shelf, it should be no larger than 30cm in any direction. (These sizes are approximate so don’t panic if you’re a centimetre or two over.)
Submitted pieces should be suitable for a family audience. Political pieces will be considered if they fit within this guideline. No nudity that would be considered unsuitable for children – a good rule of thumb would be body parts you’d expect to see at the local swimming pool are fine
How to apply Details
You are invited to submit artwork or expressions of interested for We Are All In Pieces via google form:
https://forms.gle/KuNprV6AHHc36ZdL6,
by email to hello@sophieboyce.co.uk,
or via instagram message to instagram.com/_sophieboyce_
Deadlines
Final deadline for submissions is Sunday 24th May. Completed pieces will need to be delivered no later than Sunday 7th June – arrangements will be made with accepted artists nearer the time.
Please do submit expressions of interests and queries before the deadline, especially if you would like some guidance.
Workshops or Events
I would love to run a workshop or two in the run-up to the event. If this is something you’d be interested in, please drop me an email and we can make some plans.
During the event I plan to have a workshop table set up over the weekends so people can drop in and have a go.
mOODBOARDS + EXAMPLES:
about the curator:
Sophie Boyce
Website: www.sophieboyce.co.uk Instagram: @_sophieboyce_
Hello, my name is Sophie and enjoy playing with art. I have a studio space at Artsite, and am currently on the committee for Swindon Open Studios. I am definitely a jack of all trades and master of none, having spent time with crochet, book binding, print making and, at the moment, different forms of collage including paper collage, hand embroidery fabric collages and kinusaiga. I have always struggled with proportions, perspectives and composition when trying to paint and draw, and experimenting with collage has opened up artistic possibilities that I had always thought were beyond my skillset.
Why did you want to get involved with SWAF26?
As someone who finds it hard to talk about myself as an artist while keeping a straight face, the thought of submitting my art to exhibitions is a scary prospect. The first year that SWAF ran I lacked the confidence to submit, but last year I submitted to and featured in three different exhibitions. It was a great experience – everyone is very supportive no matter where you are in your artistic journey, and I came away feeling like I wanted to be more involved this year.
