The talented Berry Meyer, a South African artist living in The Netherlands, creates intricate 3D collages that tell layered stories. Here, she talks to us about how she came to discover her passion for 3D, on not waiting to be discovered as an artist and how she veers away from working towards a preconceived idea.

When did you create your first collage and how did you first manage to have your work featured in a gallery space?

I’m not sure when I made my first collage, but it’s something I’ve been doing for about the last 14 years. I have always liked how in collage you can create endless possibilities and the outcome will always be unpredictable. A few years after my masters I enrolled as a post-graduate printmaking student at Michealis, which has a graduate exhibition every year that gets a lot of exposure and foot traffic. After this exhibition, Salon 91, AVA and Cavalli invited me to exhibit with them.

When viewing your beautiful 3D collages, it looks as though every piece has been consciously decided upon. How do you go about selecting pieces for your artworks?

I scour secondhand bookshops, thrift stores and flea markets, keeping an eye out for collections of images that others dismiss. Nowadays, I keep a constant eye out for materials. Once I have found a group of images I like, I collate images that speak to the theme of the gallery and then try and make a marriage of the contradictions surrounding the theme. Often I would try and distance my obsessions and say to myself, “This time I will not deal with gender or politics of place”, but then the image would just come back to exactly that. I have since discovered that I cannot work towards a preconceived idea but rather just make a start and then make the images and ideas speak as I go along.

On average, how long does it take you to complete a collage?

It’s difficult to work out how long it takes, because I am constantly busy creating images even when I have nowhere to send them. Most of my time is spent cutting out images that appeal to me, in stamps and other printed media. I always have a small pair of scissors with me and leave a little hamster trail of cuttings when I’m on holiday or visiting friends. By now I have a few drawers full of imagery and I can make three big collages in a month. By then most of the imagery has already been cut out, reinforced and raised with foam board before I begin the layout. Most of my time is spent cutting out images and a lot of time is spent doing layout and hunting for missing imagery, often flowers or hands.

When did you first find yourself drawn to the 3D medium and what is most rewarding about this form?

Although I enjoy making traditional two-dimensional collage and really respect the art form of creating depth on a flat surface I was drawn to the possibilities that can be created in three-dimensional dioramas. I first experimented with this technique in 2013. I started with cutting out stamps and affixing them to foam board suspended from pins and then planted on a styrofoam base. When my canvases got bigger the pins were replaced with layers of foam board to create depth. I find making three-dimensional work fun because you can create depth and mess with scale, which allows you to play with the possibilities inherent in the images in a way that is different from traditional collage. I also love seeing people’s reactions to these three dimensional worlds, as the depth makes some images stand out more while pushing back some images that are left as a surprise to the careful observer.

What advice would you give emerging artists?

There is no such thing as being discovered or someone making your career for you. It takes time to find your voice or signature and you will fail more than succeed in the beginning. Thus far I have had more rejection than success, life can be embarrassing that way and that’s okay! Be as independent as you can afford to, learn to photograph your work professionally, learn how to make frames from raw wood, market your brand and sell yourself, because there will not always be a gallery doing these things for you and the more you can do for yourself the better.

What can we expect from you next year?

I would love to take part in more international art fairs. I have participated in two Dutch fairs and am currently looking into German and Spanish fairs, as I think that those markets might be more open to collage. I also have entries for a few more European exhibitions and I have applied for a few residencies, so fingers crossed. I would also love to continue exhibiting in Cape Town, and possibly Johannesburg. Other than that, I picked up some taxidermy skills that I would finally like to combine with my collage. The objects that I have collected seem to all serve fashion in some bizarre way in the past, but I think these fashion trends are outdated and I would like to incorporate the items in an attempt to preserve these objects.

View more of Berry’s works at berrymeyer.com.

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German artist and graphic designer Matthias Jung has been creating surreal architectural collages for almost three years.

These dream-like structures, which he has been creating since the beginning of 2015, are suspended in the middle of natural landscapes, places dotted with glaciers, rivers and moorlands.

Matthias’s works have a whimsical, storytelling quality, something he sees as “architectural short poems,” the meaning of which can vary from person to person as they take the image in.

“There’s an artist at work in us, assembling snippets of reality into intricate collages we then call the world,” he says. “Working with collages gives me the chance to consciously follow this process.”

See more of Matthias’s work at zabadu.de.

(h/t) thisiscolossal.com

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Artist Ayumi Takahashi works in bright and bold colours and patterns.

Ayumi, who was recently spotted and featured by the Instagram Blog, was born in China, grew up in Japan and now lives in Portland in the USA.

She draws inspiration from the women and fashion she sees around her to produce colourful and vivid portraits and patterns reminiscent of Henri Matisse’s collages and Alex Katz’s paintings.

Her art is used to bring a sense of joy and and happiness into a world where she feels negativity is often the focus.

Today’s daily little painting~ #blue #sunglasses #girl #fashion #daily #areyoudrawingme

A photo posted by Ayumi Takahashi (@r_you_me) on Aug 31, 2015 at 10:51am PDT

Sneak peak of part of this project I have been doing with Coca Cola China! #cocacola #pattern #illustration #forest #girl #ayumitakahashi #textile #digital #painting A photo posted by Ayumi Takahashi (@r_you_me) on Apr 1, 2015 at 3:54pm PDT

Daily #49 #political #woman #powerfulwoman #silver #hair #fashion

A photo posted by Ayumi Takahashi (@r_you_me) on Sep 16, 2015 at 6:40pm PDT

Having fun doing small people! #cocacola #illustration #digital #colorful #color #earth #ocean #ayumitakahashi A photo posted by Ayumi Takahashi (@r_you_me) on Apr 14, 2015 at 7:44pm PDT

Laying out the paper cut flowers I did. Starting to like it! #colorpencil #pattern #flower #papercut #handmaking #textile

A photo posted by Ayumi Takahashi (@r_you_me) on Jul 21, 2015 at 7:00pm PDT

Did a piece for The New York Times for a very interesting story! “The Undress Code”, written by BONNIE TSUI, art directed by Sarah Williamson. This is the part 1 of the artwork. The printed version will come out on this week’s Sunday Review session. #thenewyorktimes #illustration #dresscode #undresscode #sweater #comic #sneakpeak A photo posted by Ayumi Takahashi (@r_you_me) on Nov 12, 2015 at 5:55pm PST

This is a part of the last entry of the collaboration with the sound piece that @chrisosborn did for @pairshaped. 13″ x 19″ on paper. Check out the whole project on www.pairshaped.org More coming up! Follow @pairshaped for more amazing collaborations between all kinds of artists! #collaboration #pairshaped #artist #image #contemporary #art #sound #moviemaker #filmmaker #ayumitakahashi #painting

A photo posted by Ayumi Takahashi (@r_you_me) on Jun 18, 2015 at 7:57pm PDT

And finally! This is the final!! #space #universe #illustration #fun #colorful #cocacola #digital #ayumitakahashi A photo posted by Ayumi Takahashi (@r_you_me) on Apr 14, 2015 at 7:46pm PDT

In love with this giant #Alighiero Boetti embroidery! Love Germany~

A photo posted by Ayumi Takahashi (@r_you_me) on Jun 6, 2015 at 2:59pm PDT

One last pattern design I did for #cocacola China’s “Clean Water Project” to go on their water filter machine. #finally #cocacola #branding #packaging #pattern #design #illustration #digital #painting #sea #animal A photo posted by Ayumi Takahashi (@r_you_me) on Jul 20, 2015 at 6:15pm PDT

#wip #new #soloshow #duplexgallery #upcoming #portland #art #painting

A photo posted by Ayumi Takahashi (@r_you_me) on Oct 30, 2015 at 10:04am PDT

I have been working on this collaboration over half a year with @chrisosborn for @pairshaped. It was a great project creating images based on sound pieces that Chris has created. This is our first entry and see the whole project on www.pairshaped.org More coming up! Follow @pairshaped for more amazing collaborations between all kinds of artists! #collaboration #pairshaped #artist #image #contemporary #art #sound #moviemaker #filmmaker #ayumitakahashi A photo posted by Ayumi Takahashi (@r_you_me) on May 22, 2015 at 4:53pm PDT

To see more of her work, visit ayumitakahashi.com or follow her on Instagram.

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There’s something just wonderful about Cape Town artist Galia Gluckman’s obsessively constructed waste- paper land- and seascape collages – and we’re not just talking knife-cutting prowess or that it’s all super green. It’s also about how she layers her glued cut-outs, paints into them, and repeats the time-consuming process to give her large artworks a deeper dimension.

The results are as striking as they are moving. Her piece, “Nest”, showed at the Cape Town Art Fair this year and she’s currently busy with new works, saying only that it “involves an obscene amount of cut-up strips reminiscent of piled up matches.”  

Where were you born?
In Tel Aviv and I grew up in Durban. 

How did you become a full-time artist?
I lived in London and New York as a fashion designer and traded it all in nine years ago to become a full-time artist. Since then I’ve won the Global Green Artist Challenge at the International Art Expo in New York in 2009, and exhibited in California, Boston and Cape Town.

What was it like living in London and New York?
It was monumental! London is loud and home to the Tate Modern. I loved New York’s 24-hour-living-and-working lifestyle. 

Why did you move back to South Africa?
Many reasons, but most important was family lifestyle. 

How do your South African roots influence your work?
My work is full of the flavours and beautiful colours of South Africa.

What is it about shredded paper that appeals to you?
I enjoy the process of cutting and pasting. It is almost like meditation. Each strip of paper, however seemingly insignificant, becomes significant.

Any famous fans of your work?
The founder of The Body Shop, and the Rupert family collection.

Limited-edition works available from R12 000 to R30 000. 
galiagluckman.com

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