All the magic of the college is the fact that every paper has a story. Behind it, people and works are hidden, and this is of great importance to me. These are the objects that traveled, people, kept them on the fireplace or in the cupboard. The various elements combined together create a new story. Sometimes two different elements divide up to 50 years, and together they create harmony.
Author: Jan Dziaczkowski
Source: Ewa Gorządek, Jan Dziaczkowski, Culture.pl, July 2010
Bio
Marlena Machnio – a Polish contemporary collage artist. The main motifs appearing on her works are models, exclusive interiors from journals, archival photographs and motifs taken from pop culture.
She was creating sensitive compositions right from the beginning of her career (Deep dark soul, Colors of the passing year, Haute Couture), which resulted in the artist’s collaboration with the Spanish photographer Ivan Clemente and the founder of the American brand Vido, Umaimah Mendhro. The works done in 2017-2018 include, among others, the personal aspect e.g. Out of color, Revolution or And You, What would You do for love.
The artist draws inspiration from numerous trips to the most important fashion capitals such as Paris or Berlin. Her works consist of materials from very different and often distant parts of Europe.
Statement
Creative activity is based on the internal need to combine fashion and art. I can not imagine my life without browsing beautifully designed magazines with the smell of ink. They inspire me both in terms of visual content and the structure of the paper. I consciously use the way of cutting out elements and that is what shapes my surreal collages.
The constant search for inspiration has made me use pages of books, images from the Internet or antiques found at flea markets. I care about successively increasing the format and even more differentiating my work. The materials on which I base are also from Parisian boutiques and art galleries. My creative process draws from regular – because of annual – visits of this French city. I treat the journey as a moment of breathing, meeting friends and an excuse to learn about the latest trends. I feel great pleasure from staying in touch with outstanding works of art
