I’m in an anonymous Starbuck’s in a LA suburb town. It’s next to my mom’s old folks home and I use it for handy breaks and internet. I look up and suddenly I notice that I’ve somehow I’ve fallen into a mixed media collage.
Okay, I decide to analyze the art. Above we see a very popular style. Its components: handwriting, chalk effect, white lines over a surface. So ironic. Handwriting is arguably dying and it is probable the artist who designed this never saw a real chalkboard. “Courier New” typeface is also popular with the crowd who’ve never used an actual typewriter.
Irregular transparent torn pieces, stencil underneath, and a painterly wash of white obscures the “canvas”.
It struck me that mixed media has entered mainstream art. Notice use of maps, “encaustic”– the waxy seal– and graphite-looking line work.
The animal looks like it was assembled from transparent transfers of non-copyright material, similar to transfers from Dover beloved of Trader Joe’s brown paper bags.
The original of this whole wall might have been under a yard wide. It does look as if it was done as a physical rather than digital artwork, but I might be wrong. A small piece photographed at high resolution can become huge.
Transparency, graphite lines, white lines, torn pieces, transfers, encaustic, canvas, washes, chalky lines: mixed media today, and all can be imbibed visually along with that decaf soy latte.
Saltworkstudio | Suzanne Edminster 