Using Collage to Define Yourself

In a lot of ways life is a journey to ourselves – we start off as blank slates and slowly, over time, we define who we are, who we want to be, and the compromise between the two we’re willing to accept. Part of that process of defining ourselves is through our homes and the way we design and decorate them. It might seem superficial, but the choices we make about the visuals we live with are part of everyone’s process of personal evolution.

One great way to make your home decor work towards defining you as a person is through collage. Collage is a powerful and flexible form of expression that allows us to capture more details about the focal point of the collage – ideal for expressing yourself, especially in your own home. Here are some thoughts on how collage can be used to help define your space as yours.

Emphasise Interests

One thing many people struggle with is letting other people know who we are, what we’re interested in. Sometimes we’re surprised to discover who shares our interests or who thinks a hobby we were vaguely ashamed of is fascinating.

Using collage, you can create a piece of wall art that captures the details of your hobby or interest in a creative and artistic way – and a way that people unaware of your hobby will find to be mysterious and attractive, but anyone also familiar with your interests will immediately recognise the details you chose to include, and will know they have a ‘fellow traveller’ to get to know.

Own Your Profession

For many people, our profession and living stems from our innate interests. While some people have a job, many have a career spent pursuing their own particular bend. Whether it’s numbers, science, carpentry, or writing, whatever you do for a living becomes part of who you are – and a collage is a great way to celebrate that and make it part of your everyday environment.

Using collage, you can take the finer details of your working life and put them together in a compelling arrangement. The following techniques will help you achieve an artistic piece that will draw the eye and command attention:

• Drill down: The smaller the detail and the less context around it, the more mysterious and interesting it is.
• Be personal: Don’t look for stock photos, use photos of your own tools and implements for a more personal feel. People can tell even without being told when it’s a personal item and when it’s a generic image.
• Consider a collage arrangement that walks people through your work, from beginning idea to finished product – make your collage a story about what you do all day long.

Finally, consider trading collage products with your partner or close friend, where each of you creates a collage for the other based on your understanding of their interests or profession. This experiment can show how well you know each other – or how hilarious your misconceptions are!

And if you create a collage that really pops with your personality, click here and let us turn it into a fine piece of wall art that will enhance your home’s beauty even as it shows your friends and family who you really are.