Aggie Toppins

designer, writer, and teacher

Collage Practice

2015 – PRESENT

I maintain a collage practice in which I construct images from found materials and observational drawings. The process begins in my sketchbook, which is like an archive of sources in which I arrange extant graphics. Each composition is an abstract index of my movements through the world, including places I’ve been and people I’ve met, as well as a palimpsest marking the passage of time.

a collage on a pink field featuring a mouth
a collage on a silver field featuring a map and letterforms
a collage on a mint green field featuring a red heart
a collage on a dark blue field featuring a strawberry and an image of Karl Marx's grave
a collage on a yellow field featuring the words enjoy indian river grapefruit
a collage on a gray field with some typogrpahy and an arrow
a collage on a pale blue field featuring a piece of cigar packaging
an animated image of many sketchbook spreads
a collage on a yellow field
a collage on a blue field
a collage on a pale yellow-green background with mountains, the outline of a person, and the word dasein
a collage on a pink background with a drawing of a fish
a collage on a gray background with a strip of a form in which the type that resemble smiley faces
a collage on a red field with papel picado shaped like a skull and the word no prominently featured
A gallery with framed artworks on the walls
A gallery with framed artworks on the walls

Palimpsests & Other Recent Work, Omega Gallery, Carson-Newman University, January 2019.

a collage on a gray background with vases and an image of frida khalo in the background
a collage on a brown field with a red target
a collage on a gray field with the words white rose prominently featured
a collage on a gray field with a faceless couple, a cathedral layout, and the word toilette

Recently, I’ve been experimenting with site-specific collage installation, using enlarged fragments from my sketchbook to respond to architectural features. This work reinforces the idea of the sketchbook as an archive, as the sources can be recombined and reinterpreted.

A gallery with large collages mounted directly to the walls and vitrines containing sketchbooks
A gallery entry way with a title wall, a strip of wallpaper, and framed artwork
A gallery with a large collages mounted to the wall

Two Halves of an Orange, Paul Mesaros Gallery, West Virginia University, October 2023.

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