Jane Dunne

Collage Artist
Collage Artist

As a collage artist, I am passionate about creating art that is made from materials that might otherwise be discarded if I didn’t intervene and give them new life.  I often work with magazines and old, ignored, and no-longer-loved art books.  I enjoy bringing the great works of the past into relevance today and so you can see references to Pablo Picasso, Gustav Courbet, Leonardo da Vinci and Luca Giordano, placed right next to contemporary imagery.

By using the medium of collage, I am able to bring different sources of beauty into one complete harmony.  I love finding colourful ways to tell stories visually, sometimes mixing graffiti, or graphic design elements, with renaissance paintings or instantly recognizable artworks from the past.  When upcycling, I am inspired by the idea of saving items from going in the landfill when they can still create beauty today.

I rarely need to purchase any kind of art materials, as most of what I need can be found on Craigslist, from libraries unloading magazines or on Facebook Marketplace.  My most important tools are my scissors and glue sticks.  The rest is up to my hunting skills (to find materials to snip up), and my ability to transform pieces of paper into works of art that express my feelings and current inspiration.

I have been creating collages since 2018, but have been a creative person for as long as I can remember.  I have recently shown my artwork at Place des Arts in the Transformation exhibit and also been a part of the Summer exhibition for the Langley Arts Council.  I was also a part of the juried exhibition, Creative Reuse:  The Art of Upcycling in Fort Langley, as well as the Beyond Barriers show, put on by the Langley Arts Council.  One of my proudest moments was when I exhibited a collage in the juried show, ArtRich21, at the Richmond Art Gallery.