FROM KOLAJ #20
How a Collapsed Lung and Old Sketchbooks
Led Hope Kroll to Collage
Artist Hope Kroll is known for her collages that feature repeating fragments in dramatic three-dimensional compostion, but she wasn’t always a collage artist. In her earlier work, she “would either paint directly on the book covers and pages or would create a larger canvas to paint on by piecing together the blank pages from the books…These sculptures were then sealed in epoxy resin, lightly sanded with steel wool and then finished with wax for a matte finish. After ten years of working in this manner, I suffered a collapsed left lung (Spontaneous pneumothorax).” In Kolaj #20, she tells the story of how she got started with collage.
This article appears in KOLAJ #20. To read the entire article, SUBSCRIBE to Kolaj Magazine or Get a Copy of the Issue.
Over the years, I had amassed an enormous collection of books chosen for their beautifully embossed covers, interesting titles and compelling colours along with a vast collection of photocopied collages saved in my sketchbooks. I began to look at these mini collages with new eyes and realized what little gems they were as ideas. Given that these were merely photocopies, I realized that what I needed to do was get the original imagery directly from the books, and I have been working in this manner now for the past 17 years. While I am glad to have had the experience of creating my book assemblages, I am pleased to have moved on as it directly led to me creating my three-dimensional collages.
This article appears in KOLAJ #20. To read the entire article, SUBSCRIBE to Kolaj Magazine or Get a Copy of the Issue.
Hope Kroll holds a BFA from the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana and an MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute. Her work is held by museums in California, New Mexico and Utah and has been exhibited extensively in both group and solo shows across the United States since the early 1990s. This magazine has featured her work in Kolaj #2 and Kolaj #11. She lives and works in Paso Robles, California. Find out more at www.hopekroll.com.
Image (top):
The Nesting
by Hope Kroll
9.5″x18″
collage
2016
Image (centre):
Self-Portrait
by Hope Kroll
21″x31″
collage
2015
The photo was included in a collage by Vincent Versace