Michelle Casey - Collage Your World

Artist Statement

Family photographs and magazine images have become invaluable sources for me to explore and express issues related to my identity as a rootless Asian-Canadian woman. I am consumed with composing visual narratives that evoke the long silent history of my family as well as those of others. In every image I see stories waiting to unfold. Collage enables me to create a unique visual vocabulary with which to bring lost subject matter to life: to make it whole, to make it real as well as give it a new home. Trusting my instincts, I let my materials speak to me and guide their placement in my work. Balancing an intuitive approach with knowledge gathered from research, I play with image fragments until my subject matter reveals itself to me. Presenting themselves in various guises, my work takes the form of shrine-like mementos, assemblages and journal pages. Small, delicate, richly detailed pieces, they invite the viewer to come closer, linger longer and embark upon a visual journey with me.

Photography by Carmin Davidson