Remember when you made a collage in elementary school? You cut out some pictures or maybe glued some macaroni onto cardboard and painted over and around. Well you, my friend, were making a mixed media art piece.
Professional artists combine different materials, like paint, paper, photos, wood, etc. into a structured piece with a more interesting texture or complexity or composition than a painting or drawing. The artist has free reign to interpret anything and everything as art and viewers can expand their understanding of shapes or objects.
Pablo Picasso is credited with creating the first modern mixed media art piece, Still Life with Chair Caning. In this 1912 piece, he used rope, paper, cloth and paint to assemble a three-dimensional collage. Other famous artists, such as Henri Matisse, Edgar Degas, Paul Klee and Man Ray used tactile elements in their respective styles to enhance or expand their visions. Today’s mixed media artists use a potpourri of art materials.
Five Reasons to Own Mixed Media Art
- Supports upcycling by using found materials. Some artists incorporate an array of found objects to tell an underlying story. This is sometimes called upcycling, found object art or junk art. Peggy Dembicer created This American Life with recycled vintage bingo cards coupled with retro and iconic images created with markers, ink, colored pencils, beads and embroidery.
2. Challenges the viewer to find all the materials or objects used or figure out how it was made. Vanessa Endeley from the United Kingdom uses a digital image, photography and a giclee print on paper to create this colorful portrait. Giclee is a French term meaning “to spray”. In fine art printing, giclee uses a specialized, high-resolution inkjet printer using expensive inks and papers.
3. Draws the viewer into the image through other senses, such as touch. This abstract piece from Dutch artist, Conrad Bloemers combines acrylic paints and sand on a canvas. If you look closely, you can see the texture and depth from the sand. It almost dares you to touch it.
4. Tells a story where the material may underlies the image. (Think of the steel sculpture of the balloon dog by Jeff Koons). This one-of-a-kind pop art piece by Timo Myllynmaki, a self-taught artist from Finland, features 3-D ice cream bars molded in acrylic mounted on wood.
5. Creates a sense of whimsy and “outside the box” creativity. Canadian artist Lorette C. Luzajic uses several mediums, including a collage of images and words, acrylic paint, spray paint, and pastels on a canvas to bring a smile or a smirk to the viewer.
Mixed media art is a great way to showcase your own whimsical side and bring joy into your space.
Share your thoughts about these mixed media pieces below. Can you see any of these in your space?
I generally do not like mixed media but one of the pieces i own depicts two figures representing native americans in cermominal dress. They appear to be painted in oil but their headdresses are actually feathers and their bead work is actual native american bead work. The mixed media used is the actual sacramental material. It tells a story
I love the idea of looking at mixed media as a way to “upcycle”, or maybe even the other way around. I also really LOVE “Spring” from Conrad Bloemers. I’m interested to learn more about him and his style of art.