Natalie Schorr
My collage practice grew from printmaking, oddly enough.
Just prior to the pandemic I was printing very detailed larger scale architectural drypoints with scraps of paper that I then collaged back together. The pandemic changed me, though, as through the isolation and loss of family I began to give way to a more genuine way of working that abandoned the pressure I felt for perfection. Collage came to be about accepting things I could not change.
These collages led to the creation of a “library” of interchangeable body parts and images with linocut and screen print that I mixed with found images to create figurative collages. More recently, I began drawing individual elements and mixing them with 19th century ephemera in a series of collages I call “mirages.”
The mirages are intimately sized collages created with very old steel or wood engravings, stone lithographs, and pen and ink drawings. The combinations develop intuitively as I move images around until a story presents itself to me. The final element is the drawing of lines that emanate from the composition that signify the flow of energy around the image as if they were heat waves.
Being neurodivergent, elements such as lines, dots, and auras appear frequently in my work. These conventions give me a sense of safety and peace that are difficult to describe with words. The stories these collages tell may be funny or painful, and I can’t always explain their meanings. Observers may feel free to find their own stories in the works, which I really enjoy.
