" THE MORE TIME I SPEND WITH MY PARTNER, THE CLOSER I FEEL TO THEM "
For this page, I'm expressing the quote given above into a collage visual form. For this concept, I thought of presenting a possible journey of a couples relationship over the years? This was proven to be quite difficult as I didn't have enough pictures of one couple growing up together, let alone thinking of a way to compose these images in my magazine. My compromise to this idea was to explore and merge multiple images of different couples from the 1990's up until todays date. The message I'm trying to get across is that the concept of being in a relationship is the same now, and is tied by the emotion love. Though, todays date we do have more diverse relationships which I wanted to incorporate within the collage piece.
By removing the sections of their bodies, I want to give the viewer the idea of whoever you're in love with, it doesn't matter about their age, gender, sexuality and so on, it just matters about the personal connection you have with one another. You cannot see 'connection' visually (minus body gestures and actions), its within yourself, which is why I cut these sections out, to dive deeper inside the mind. Both people within the couple are almost joined
Merve Ozaslan
Merve Ozaslan is a Turkish ceramic and collage artist. Her collages use vintage photos of people that are often turned into silhouttes, then use scenery inside inside as a replacement. This puts a modern twist on the time of the photo, contrasting one another, challenging the viewer.There is a real beauty within her work. I'm not sure if I feel remorse when I view her piece as it looks like the silhouettes are almost ghost-like people who may have died but are in a better, more beautiful place now which can be seen through the use of stunning scenery inside. The background scenery juxtaposes the scenery within the silhouette as they tend to be colourless, dull and grungy in comparison to the earthy, vibrant visuals you see inside the models. There's a real connection between the people in each image, a sense of life.
I decided to look into Merve's work due to the simplicity but also striking nature of each piece she creates. My Photoshop work that I have been practicing this project has allowed me to complete a similar method of working by removing sections out of a photograph, and replace it with another image. This technique is one I would like to continue playing around with, and possibly start to layer different images together to create a busy, fast pace collage which contrasts against the 2 layered pieces that I have been working on at the minute.
My own images, as I've described further up the page, can be read in multiple ways depending on the viewer. Even for myself, I have found a few different meanings that all relate/link together but have their own message as well, which I adore whilst viewing a piece of artwork. Having a meaning which is changed by the way its spectated, and could be a personal. Going on from the last point, for me this page is deeply personal as it uses a range of photos of my family, friends, and boyfriend which is a celebration of all the couples, and love surrounding my life.