Art, Altered

The latest vogue of altered art is definitely a result of the immense popularity of crafty pastimes like decoupage and scrapbooking, and things like shadow boxes and easily available crafting supplies. Although certainly not a “fine art” pursuit (to me, ok?), altered art creations are a fun way to let loose with three-dimensional objects as well as two-dimensional ones. And a lot of glue.

(In A Nutshell - N. Doany©2003)

I prefer the term assemblage to the dreadful, misleading “altered-art” label. Besides having a more genteel meaning, it is also a more accurate description of what a good artwork made in this style really is. (Or as a catty critic might say, perhaps “altered art” should only be applied to those ubiquitous, mostly icky, kinda creepy creations that are like a child yelling curse words to grab our attention. Can’t show any pictures of those, ‘cause I don’t own any – but you know what I mean, you’ve probably seen too many of them, eagerly made by misguided crafters with more fondness for in-your-face showiness than artistic finesse.)

But that's neither here nor there. So for your viewing pleasure, these are two very lovely examples of assemblage, both made by two equally lovely ladies: my sister (a couple of years ago) and my daughter (when she was 4 years old).

(My Pink Shoe - Y. Barrage©2004)

Stay tuned for a post about ideas on how to make your own assemblage artwork.