The People Project
The People Project is a large and long term collage project that is still a work in progress
The People Project was inspired by the collage below. An 18x24 piece that I created in 2018. At that time I created one large collage a week.
52 collages later
( and not all in that large size fit into this people project category )
I thought…
What on earth am I going to do with these?
I have done a really poor job of keeping track of this project. I had portfolio’s of the work organized at my former website. i do not have all of the images in my current files.
Some of my photos are also less than perfect. I apologize for that.
Here it is spring of 2025. I thought I would assemble what I do have for further reference. vs try and re-photograph them all. at least for now
I want to determine what my image inventory actually is
In general -The collection is divided by size. and style. Sizes included are: 18x24, 9x12, 8x8’s and even a few odd small and mini collages. As the project continued to develop I styled them with a binding. I felt the need to bind them. giving them a boundary as I called it. and a way to hang multiple pieces of art in a gallery setting without a frame. I also stitched some of them
i recently wrote a substack post about working large and how for this project i began to work smaller.
18x24
9x12 - in journal. no binding
Some 9x12’s w/binding
MORE 9x12’s
8x8. aka “portraiture within a boundary”. stitched.
The only artist statement about the project that I have so far is for my 8x8 size collages:
Portraiture Within A Boundary: “Deconstructed faces are puzzled into a specific space. They assemble themselves accordingly. Often, especially after trauma, lines are drawn. A person may execute a divide as a method of self protection. This is my dynamic, this is how I portray myself, this is what I want you to see. Or this is what I keep to myself.”
Below is the first of this 8x8 size and style - created in 2021, + 2 more. I then decided to bind them. Last image is however many i had at the time completely stitched and bound.
The first set of 8x8’s
above. 12 - 8x8 stitched collages hanging for a group exhibit w/ allied arts.
below the selection process re: binding an 8x8 collage.
i taught myself the crazy quilt technique that is most often used with fabric. I did it with paper. took about two years to perfect. binding was the final learning hurdle.
click on a photo to view larger in lightbox
more 8x8’s
Various NOTES:
In 2018 I started to collage18x24 large. I loved it. I loved the vast space to create on and hated that large work perplexed me as to how to have it be exhibit ready and not cost a jillion $’s. After making 56 of them I stopped.
Additionally, I started cutting heads off of people from the piles of magazines I had and kept them in a cigar box. When the box was full I felt that morphing them would make for great collaging. Thus the beginning of what I call The People Project.
Another layer to the year 2018 was that I was broken. I was post trauma, my anxiety took on an exaggerated form and I spiraled.
The 18x24 collages reminded of the chatter that goes on inside my head. Good chatter, bad chatter, consoling chatter, nuanced chatter, fantasy chatter, pissed off chatter. The fact was that inside both my mind and my subconscious mind….THIS could be what the chatter looked like. Crowded, varied personalities, distorted perspectives and noise. Lots and lots of noise. I am the sortof person who detests the noise of commercials on the radio or television. I will drive in silence as to not have to endure the hype and commercialism. When I could make tapes or CD’s, my own music mixes were how I enjoyed music!
In high school I read the very iconic 1973 bestselling book “sybil” by Flora Rheta Schreiber The book was about a person with 16 multiple personalities. It was made into a two part made for TV drama starring Sally Field and Joanne Woodward in 1976. And later into a docs-drama in 2007.
In the film the phrase “the people - the people - the people ” was something that resonated with me. Not sure why but when I made my large collages - the phrase is what came to mind.
The only artist statement that I have so far is for my 8x8 size collages.
Portraiture Within A Boundary: Deconstructed faces are puzzled into a specific space. They assemble themselves accordingly. Often, especially after trauma, lines are drawn. A person may execute a divide as a method of self protection. This is my dynamic, this is how I portray myself, this is what I want you to see. Or this is what I keep to myself.
The Technique: I apply crazy quilt style technique but with paper. I border each subject with 1/2 strips. I fill in the rest of the dimension with 1 inch strips. I then machine stitch in zig zag to secure design and to embellish the patterns. Each piece is bound. Much like a quilt is. No two collages are alike.
About the Artist: Washington based artist Karen Hanrahan, works with found magazine pages to narrate the challenges of her life into a collage format. Her self taught multi-disciplinary work expresses her tenacious spirit by processing personal topics such as rape, loneliness, trauma and poverty. Karen’s work is acknowledged as organic, intimate and visually engaging. She has exhibited in Chicago, Seattle and Bellingham.
It took me a good year if not more to perfect this particular stitched collage style. As things pandemic continued. I made art for the sake of the calm it provided me. I latched onto an 8x8 dimension for my work. The limitations felt reliable and safe.
