Mixed Media Collage
Lino-print, newspaper, acrylic, oil and pen on paper
120cm x 55cm
This is the finished version of the mixed media collage I have been adding to this week. Overall, I’m really pleased with the final outcome of this,
I originally began working into the Lino-print with written text, writing ‘System Update’ at the top corner to make reference to digital terminology, suggesting that the system of power and the monarchy within the UK needs to be updated. However, I thought that there could be more effective methods of presenting. my ideas powerfully. The piece uses newspaper cuttings from a Socialist Worker’s Party newspaper. Though I don’t necessarily agree with or support the organisation’s Trotskyite beliefs, the paper was ideal for my work as it contained a lot of phrases and text relating to the monarchy and the Government which I could use in this piece to communicate an anti-establishment message. I think that the use of newspaper collage is effective in evoking the look of the DIY/Punk art movement, signifying working class anger, revolution and anarchist ideals. Taking into consideration my current visual research into conspiracy and systems of power, I also incorporated some of these symbols in this piece, using pen to depict the Illuminati triangle and pop culture references (The Beatle’s album ‘Help!’ scribbled below the image of the monarchy in the bottom left). I particularly like this section of the piece, with the ‘Love love love’ newspaper cuttings and the ‘Destruct’ text directly above the heads of the royal family, evoking a sort of tongue-in-cheek approach to the topic that I find easier to communicate my ideas without being completely serious. This also lends itself quite well to conspiracy theory, as it allows me to investigate the subject through a more flippant tone to give a degree of separation between my own beliefs and the ones communicated through the work.
I wasn’t completely happy with the look of this collage before painting on top of it, so i thought about how i could inject a colourful style into it that fits more with the aesthetics of my current practise. At the beginning of this semester I had briefly experimented with painted mandala motifs on top of mixed media collage, so once I had tested this out again I used it in this work. The slightly translucent properties of the oil paint makes the work more vibrant whilst the text is still visible underneath, allowing me to make reference to religious iconography and the outsider/punk aesthetic at the same time.
I definitely want to continue using collage in my work this way, I could return to this piece to add more intricate details to the mandalas painted on top.

















