An Interview with Sarah Eisenlohr!

Sarah Eisenlohr is known for revitalizing old imagery. By cutting and pasting pictures from printed materials in to unique formats, the United States based artist is able to inject new meaning in to old media. It is her remarkable eye for collage—such as composition and color—that makes Eisenlohr’s work so extraordinary. Recently, I had the pleasure to interview the artist about her collaging process, artistic concepts, and plans for the future. Read below!

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THE INTERVIEW
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Congratulations on graduating from University of Montana with a BFA! When you began school, did you intend to focus on collage or did you enter university with a different medium--or perhaps different major--in mind?

Thank you! It’s exciting to have graduated. I remember starting out college not knowing if I wanted to go into art or become a veterinarian. It wasn’t until after volunteering for a vet, that I realized there was a lot more involved than petting cute doggies and then narrowed my options down to art. The following semester, I got my first point-and-shoot camera for a trip abroad. I came back from the trip knowing I wanted to go into art, with photography as my focus. Over time though, my mind was opened to the possibilities of different art materials I could work with and I eventually found out I could sort of paint. After awhile, my paintings began to incorporate magazine collage. And then I found I really liked collage by itself.

Where do you find the majority of your images?

Older National Geographic Magazines.


Walk us through your creation process? How do you begin a collage and what steps do you take a piece through before it is deemed "finished?"

I begin by finding an image from a magazine page that I want to base the collage around. It’s usually something I find interesting—a group of people, a colorful landscape, or a unique object. When I find something I like, it also means it causes me to imagine a scene and more features that would compliment it—so it has potential to be complete collage.

After choosing the photo, I look through my binders of pre-cut images. I’m usually looking for other parts of a scene to finish it, such as people, a landscape, and some sort of object to interact with, which creates content or an idea.

I know my collage is finished when I instinctually feel that it is. Usually because it feels visually balanced with color and shapes. And also because I like it.

Many artists, especially collage artists, have issue with copyright laws inhibiting their freedom to create (take for instance, Kristian von Hornsleth). Have you encountered any of these problems in your work, and if so, how have you dealt with them?

That’s a good point, luckily I have never run into any problems and I don’t know of any fellow collagers who have either.

I understand that your first series, "Mapping," was an exploration of collage as a medium through which you depicted an aesthetic inspired by mapping, charting, and cartography. Can you explain how your work has manifested over the years from "Mapping" to your most recent series, "Comfort?"

Mapping and Comfort were created about a year apart from each other. Halfway between making them, I started to wrap up my Mapping series when I began to create without being under a theme, which led me to explore possibilities again. I was able to create anything, so at the time the most influential ideas towards my work were the things directly happening around me. Some collages were about the mundane, ordinary parts of my day, while the majority of them were derived from personal ideas and events that have been of impact on me. This idea of taking my personal life and influencing my work with it led to the Comfort series.



"Mapping" and "Comfort" seem very similar in aesthetic and primary theme. Though "Comfort" delves in to more personal matters, is it safe to assume that your most recent series is an extension of your original "Mapping?" 

The Comfort series was made for my BFA senior exhibition. Two weeks prior to the opening I didn’t have anything finished. I had all year to come up with something but none of my concepts led me to creating a full body of work. So I changed up my approach and was able to complete “Tent” as my first piece when it was pieced together by color choice rather than content. After looking at it, I was able to move towards an idea I wanted to focus on. I would say Comfort is not an extension of Mapping but it does have similarities as they both involve man and the landscape. The landscape in Comfort is used as a metaphor of an emotional experience, while it’s literal in Mapping, demonstrating our impact and influence on the planet’s appearance.
Are there any artists that you look up to or who have greatly influenced your work?

Here are just a few of many collage artists you should check out: Jesse Treece, Bryan Olson, and Jordan Clark.

Collage is a drastically unappreciated medium. Many people see it less as fine art and more of a hobby. Has this stigma ever created obstacles for you? How do you combat this stereotype?

Ha, that’s funny that you say that. I always feel people get a mental image of a really lame arts-and-craft project when I tell them I make collages. But I feel that the look of collage has expanded from the Dadaist abstract style we’re used to seeing, (not that there’s anything wrong with it) into a more fresh, surrealist-narrative take on it. By broadening the style, it’s also broadening the audience and gaining more acceptance.

What can we expect from you in the future? Another series? A book perhaps?
My magazine collection grew a lot this summer so I have a bit of new material to work with. I will be making a collage swap with Nathaniel Whitcomb (another artist to check out), so I will be creating a new one soon. I have a series made specifically for a short story in Galavant Magazine, coming out in August. I’m also very excited to be part of the book, The Age of Collage through the company Gestalten. It will be available in North America this August.



∆ Image credit: Sarah Eisenlohr

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For more of Sarah Eisenlohr's art you can check out her Tumblr, Facebook, and official website.