Collage is a medium anybody can enjoy at home. I have been playing with arrangements of images cut from books and other commercially printed paper for more than twenty years. It is an endlessly amusing activity.
It is also easy to collect collage material. I have recently come to realize that I have accumulated as many images as I could ever possibly use in my lifetime. Standing in my basement studio in the midst of it all, it struck me that I have created quite a mess, and the only way to get past the anxiety associated with clutter is to start cleaning it up.
I view the creative process of collage—sorting, organizing, and arranging my mess—as a metaphor for the greater challenges we all face in the future. We have all contributed to making quite a mess of our planet. It is an inarguable point that we need to work together to clean up the earth, so our children and grandchildren, and the many generations to follow, will have the opportunity to enjoy the great abundance of life on earth, in a responsible and sustainable manner.
Speaking from my own limited experience, organizing a mess and arranging the most mundane objects into surprising compositions is not only amusing self-entertainment, it is hugely satisfying, fulfilling, addicting, and contagious.
A global consciousness is dawning with the Information Age. I can see us all working together to care for our Mother Earth, restoring Her to good health.