mixed media collage
by Amy Duncan
I have a thing about junk...and all the stuff that people throw away. 25 years ago, I started my company, four corners design, to focus on mixing together found odds & ends usually relegated to the waste bin with simple graphic images to create original mixed media collages. Weaving together the elements of time and history, with color, texture, pattern and tone, it's not uncommon to find used envelopes, receipts and letters, leftover wallpaper, old book pages, or snippets of torn maps as components in my compositions. An obsession with things that are old, rusty and dilapidated and then uncovering their hidden beauty is the final layer of these collages, adding a 3-dimensional element to each creation, giving new life to recycled remnants.
In recent years, my love of vintage has cultivated a photography interest that spins the story of these forgotten relics; a marriage of collage, photography and digital artistry melds the past with the present into a contemporary image.
Expanding the focus of my work has led to a new name, STUDIO FOUR CORNERS, which encompasses collage, photography, design and creative collaborations...and whatever else might catch my eye. I get a kick out of inspiring others and I sincerely believe that anyone can be creative - you just need a little nudge. You can find me most days creating with the ordinary and discarded elements that fill my studio and surround me in my urban brownstone here in the Pacific Northwest, that I share with my trusted confidant, The Southern Man.
The most ordinary of elements can tell a story…you just have to listen.
top photo credit - Tuesday Sands