Which tools did you use for the creation of this piece?
Exacto blade and rubber cement.
What was your creative process?
My creative process whenever I work on collage is finding images that truly mean something to me. My favorite thing to do is to go through A LOT OF Alt-Mags and see what I can find to catch my eye. More is better in my opinion. Adding layers and text brings so much depth to a piece of mine. I just let my mind expand, I don’t have a certain plan or outcome when it comes to any of my pieces.
“Just pick up the exact-o and let your mind do the talking.”
What were your references, influences or inspirations?
I grab a lot of my influences from magazines that show a lot of raw, true, in-the-moment images. A lot of my influences are from older magazines, especially from the 1960’s to the early 1990s. National Geographic, LIFE, and Southern Homes (specifically the ones from the 60’s) are a few of my favorites.
What did you enjoy the most about the process?
Seeing it come to life. Laying down scraps of paper and just building from that creates a surreal image that draws me in every time.
What was the hardest thing for you and how did you solve it?
CREATIVE BLOCK. It sucks, but everyone goes through it. I try to keep my creative spark lit at all times by creating one collage per day, a lot of which never even make it to social media. Some days I have no motivation or passion for that matter. It is so easy to get in this pit where you have no drive to create but I always tell myself, “You got this, Ethan. Just pick up the exact-o and let your mind do the talking.” Throwing myself at it usually turns into a spark of creativity one way or another.
My name is Ethan Hofstad and I go by Collage Boy on Instagram. I recently received my BFA in Photography which is where I discovered my love for analog collage.