1) LOCATION?

Sackville, New Brunswick, Canada: Sackville is built on unceded ancestral land and water of the Mi’kmaq. 🇨🇦

2) YEARS COLLAGING?

I traded paintbrushes for scissors 5 years ago.

 3) WHAT DO YOU LOVE AND DISLIKE ABOUT COLLAGE??

I love that collage is an inherently communal medium. The way I work, creating analog collages using found printed paper, means entering into a dialog with the cultural history of my source material. That information can be negated or amplified or manipulated to be something entirely different but it’s there and we’ve all had a hand in shaping it and will continue to.

 4) BIGGEST INFLUENCES?

I’m inspired by my friends and their commitment to community and their practices. Like most of us, I’m exposed to a lot of popular images and narratives in the course of a day but the ideas I’m most influenced by are the ones that are built through casual conversation and making in-person connections. I think supporting spaces where these types of exchanges can take place like bars, galleries, and music venues is not only crucial for building art movements but also for arriving at a collective vision of how we want the future to look and how we can organize to get there.

 5) ANALOG VS DIGITAL, PROS & CONS? 

Definitely analog. Holding charged material in my hand is way more powerful to me than moving it around on a screen.

6) HOW DO YOU SPEND YOUR DOWNTIME? 

My life is a mashup of input and output, and right now, I associate downtime with output. Watching movies, listening to music, reading books, attending art events, talking with friends and family are things I love to do but for me these are input activities, not downtime. Alternatively, walking, biking, swimming and my studio practice are output activities, where I can process and reflect—my downtime.

7) THREE TIPS FOR SOMEONE STARTING OUT IN COLLAGE? 

- It's good to be aware of collage tropes but don’t be afraid to engage with them.

- Follow your gut. If there’s something you’re thinking of making but you’re questioning how it might be received, make it. You don’t have to show it to the rest of the world (!!!) but making it might be an important part in your development.

- Stop moving things around and start gluing down. Eventually, you must, if you want to finish anything.

8) WHERE DO YOU SEE YOUR ART PRACTICE IN 5-10 YEARS’ TIME?

Ten years ago, I would never have predicted that I’d diverge from an established painting practice to adopt collage as my sole medium, so I won’t hazard a guess.

9) UP AND COMING SHOWS OR PROJECTS WE SHOULD KNOW ABOUT?

I have a few things in the works but no details to share yet. I was part of The Weird Show’s Los Raros/Las Raras exhibition in Valladolid, Spain this summer. I’m still riding that high.

See more 👀

Gram: @doingvsdreaming
Web: andreamortson.com

Artwork Credits:

The Merry Painter
22.5 x 25.5 cm
2020
Collage using found paper

Three Rings
33.5 x 44 cm
2020
Collage using found paper

Time to go now
42 x 42 cm
2021
Collage using found paper

A Good Time
25.5 x 20.5 cm
2021
Collage using found paper

There once was a shadow I took for myself
68.5 x 88 cm
2022
Collage using found paper

Carousel
60 x 46 cm
2023
Collage using found paper

Posse
40 x 28.5 cm
2023
Collage using found paper

Mornings After
68 x 52 cm
2024
Collage using found paper