Collage is an art form which is often being associated with installation art. This is because collage art commonly involves the use of different material in order to create the artwork apart from the normal and more conventional medium of colour paints and such. The word collage comes from the word ‘a coller’ which is a French word which means ‘to glue’. Generally, collage art is a formal visual art form where it involves the assembly and composition of different material to create a particular piece of artwork.
In most circumstances, collage art usually involve the use of several items and this could include the use of newspaper clippings, papers, artworks, text and other items that could also be ribbons, textile and such all of which will then be artistically glued together on a piece of canvas. The main difference between a collage and an installation is that the former usually involves the use of a canvas while the latter can include many other items. Historically, collage art has been around for many centuries and has been regarded as not one of the more popular types of art but has since emerged in the 20th century where it has since gained much popularity ever since.
In fact, collage techniques have been recorded to date to as far back as 200 B.C when it was used in China after the invention of paper. This can be seen in art works that involved gluing of paper and poems on scrolls which existed until the 10th century in Japan and would only travel to Europe some 200 years later. Up until the 19th century, collage art were basically stagnant until it rose in popularity again through hobbyists who made these works in the form of memorabilia like scrap books and photo albums. Collage in its own discipline is taught in art schools where students are often encouraged to use their own medium to create such artworks.
It has grown to become its own independent type of art where collage has been used in paintings like that of Picasso and such. Apart from that, collage on wood has also been featured which was first experimented by the likes of Kurt Schwitters. Other branches of collage have also emerged and this includes decoupage where it is defined as a type of craft and photomontage which typically is a collage artwork made from either full or parts of photographs. A more recent type of collage is known as digital collage which is the electronic process of creating this type of artwork.
Collage art in Malaysia is not as popular as other types of art although there has been several artists who have made their reputation on this. One such artist is Azliza Ayob who made the artwork ‘Escape from Hell, Trapped in Heaven’ which was completed using acrylic and this art from. Azliza used a composition of images to express her notion through the adoption of this mixed media where she pushed the message through the title of the artwork.
