Skin in the Game


FROM KOLAJ #24

Steve Tierney’s Reflected Series

Collagist Steve Tierney’s recent body of work tackles the topic of gender head on. “Reflected” debuted at China Heights Gallery just outside of Sydney, Australia in Summer 2018. With this collage series, Tierney is doing something different, something deeper and self reflective. Working with photographer Tanja Bruckner, he made his own source materials using his body, violating gender norms by holding his body in a way that men aren’t supposed to. That performative act not only created material for the series, it informed Tierney’s thinking. He writes, “This new series was an opportunity to insert myself into my work. By collaborating with a photographer and making myself the subject matter, I was able to express my own emotions directly and far more powerfully than if I had chosen to use a model. A review appears in Kolaj #24.

This article appeared in Kolaj #24. To see more, SUBSCRIBE to Kolaj Magazine or Get a Copy of the Issue.

Tierney worked with photographer Tanja Bruckner to make his own source materials using his own body…That performative act not only created material for the series, it informed Tierney’s thinking.

In the second exhibition of the series at Taller Espacio Alternativo in Mexico, the works were printed at 2 x 3 metres and were hung throughout the main exhibition room. “The audience were invited to walk through the pieces, touch them and become a part of the experience. The artist wanted people to feel as if they were walking inside of a human body.”

Since 2013, Collagist Steve Tierney has been living a nomadic existence between Oaxaca, Mexico and Sydney, Australia. He is a member of the Sydney Collage Society and his work has appeared in several internationally-focused, collage books. He creates commissioned pieces for editorial magazines and music album covers and has exhibited artwork in solo and group shows in Australia, Cambodia, Mexico, Italy, Japan, and the USA. Go to www.stevetierneycollage.com for more information.

This article appeared in Kolaj #24. To see more, SUBSCRIBE to Kolaj Magazine or Get a Copy of the Issue.

Images (top to bottom):
Dreams by Steve Tierney
mixed media collage
2018
©Steve Tierney/Tanja Bruckner

Words by Steve Tierney
mixed media collage
2018
©Steve Tierney/Tanja Bruckner