Collection: "Mash Up," organized by Kiera Lofgreen (online exhibition)

About the exhibition

This online NIAD exhibition is an assembly of collage works I’m calling Mash Up.

The process of collage is transformative, playful, and powerful. Taking elements from disparate sources—or even just one—mixing them up, and reassembling them, you can create something unexpected and fantastical. It often results in abstraction or surrealism, which is exciting to me.

I also appreciate that collage making is inherently sustainable. Ephemera, scraps, bric-a-brac, waste material, and other things at hand can gain new purpose and meaning through collage. Found materials don’t need to be expensive, which helps make this art form more accessible than others. And, just as with the world at large, we need more of that in art.

About the organizer

Originally from Arizona, Kiera Lofgreen is a graphic designer and artist in the Bay Area. She earned a BA in Visual Arts/Media from the University of California, San Diego, as well as trained in photography at the University of Washington and surface pattern design at the California School of Professional Fabric Design. Her work is inspired by mid-20th century illustration and design, outsider art, street art and graffiti, doodling, wacky animation, and vintage kitsch. Kiera’s current art practice is focused on creating silly visual stories and make-believe worlds through collage. Her work has been exhibited in several juried shows, including “Sweet 'n Low: An International Show of Cute,” at the Bedford Gallery in Walnut Creek, California and “Papered,” at the Ashton Gallery in San Diego.