I am excited to announce that my collage artwork is featured in a group show at Penn State Lehigh Valley. 

The exhibition runs August 26th - October 11, 2013; the opening reception is Wednesday, Sept 11th; 5-7pm at Penn State Lehigh Valley.

This exhibition features artists who often use text to express visual images and ideas. The words are presented in a visual context encouraging the viewer to look closer into the image and probe their meaning.

EXHIBITING ARTISTS:
Michael Albert 
Vicki DaSilva
Christina Galbiati 
Naomi Grossman
Robert Jackson 
Julie Miller 

During the exhibition, a mural will be created using text and images that will be fashioned and found. 

For more information contact Ann Lalik, 610-285-5261 or [email protected]

Gallery Hours, call: 610-285-5078.

My artist statement: I am enamored with tactile forms of communication and have created a deeply personal aesthetic journey of photocopying words and sometimes images, to create unique patterns, then hand-tear the resulting paper palette to form my collage. The unexpected outcome of rough edges, uneven tones, broken lines and dot patterns that arise from the xerography process are intentional — my work symbolizes the importance of print media communication despite society’s increasing reliance on intangible, digital forms of communication.

I was recently interviewed by author, artist and educator, Lisa Cyr, regarding the topic of Promotional Strategies:


Q: Can you talk about your brand and how you incorporated that vision into your promotional materials?

A: My design aesthetic is simple, clean and contemporary, while my illustration and artwork is detailed, tactile, layered and full of energy. Having promotional materials that showcase my artwork without competing with the design of the piece was instrumental to conveying my brand effectively.

...  to read the entire interview, click here.




(right: photo of outside package and interior of promotional box; which contains metal slipcase and promo cards of work.)
http://promotionalstrategies.blogspot.com/2013/02/interview-with-christina-galbiati.html

(right: handmade promotional magnets, created with metal and acrylic, and presented in individual black boxes. Each magnet showcases an illustration from my portfolio.)

As a designer, I've long been obsessed with beauty of print media. Before my thesis project, where I created a series of 60+ pieces of collage artwork, I created a collection of politically and socially inspired art. 

It was back in 2004 when I began experimenting with enlarging words (from newspapers and printed type from my inkjet) via the xerography process and then hand tearing and cutting those words into collage imagery.










One of my first pieces using this process, was based on the 2004 Kerry/Bush election (shown on the left).

A Nation Divided, 18" x 18"  ©2004

This piece was inspired by Hurricane Katrina and the devastation it left behind.

Everyone from the national, state and local level, was trying to point blame regarding rescue/ recovery efforts (the  inspiration around the finger pointing visual.)

Katrina, 24" x 24", ©2005

In 2006 Immigration was (well it still is) a hot-button issue. 

This piece is based on looking at this issue with the glass half-empty or half full concept.

I photocopied the word 'immigration' many times and individually cut out those letters to symbolize people. I also creating a wall of words symbolizing the tension around this topic.


Half Empty or Half Full?, 18" x 18", ©2006

When Pres. Obama won in 2008, I was inspired to mark this historical event by printing his entire inauguration speech, photocopying the words in several sizes, and collaging the entire speech (yes the entire speech is included over these 2 pieces) to make both portraits.

Pres. Obama and the First Lady, 
 18" x 18"  each, ©2009

















Symbolically, the uneven tones and broken lines of the type enlarged via xerography process is meant to exploit the importance of print media. This is one of the main reasons why I began this journey, exploring this collage process back in 2004.

I may create 3rd collection of collage artwork in the near future, until then I hope you enjoy a look back of what sparked my passion into the world of collage art and illustration.

-CG


Production notes/purchasing info:(Shown in this blog are 4 pieces from my 15 piece collection created from 2004-2009. Please contact me at [email protected] if you are interested in purchasing the original artwork shown in this blog, or to see a complete visual list from this collection).

All of my artwork is mixed media with acrylic, high-gloss UV varnished on 2" deep canvas. 

a close-up view of Obama artwork

... it's a mock-up of work from my Summer 2010 MFA endeavor at Marywood University's  'Art of Children's Book Illustration' class.

I was hesitant about taking on the daunting task of illustrating a children's book, but my wonderful professors, Megan Halsey and Melanie Hall were so positive and supportive during our initial meeting, I felt energized about completing this project.

Everyone in the class was assigned a manuscript and I believe they picked the perfect one which allowed me to explore my artistic strengths. I have crafted a style of art where I use the xerography process (photocopy words and sometimes images) and hand-tear the resulting paper palette to create my imagery. I created several (political) pieces of artwork using  this collage technique prior to this class (my first piece was in 2004). but I believe by spending almost a year + on perfecting these illustrations (I did several versions of each spread) has allowed me to successfully showcase my style of illustration and offer this service to my clients (Thank you M & M!)

The slideshow below is the final project, a complete 32 page illustrated book of her manuscript. I sent numerous copies to publishing houses for review and have received wonderful feedback from many of them, but no one has officially agreed to publish this version. Even though I did receive approval from Miriam's estate to solicit prospective publisher's with my version of 'Lazy Day', I believe because this was previously published (and is not in public domain) I am wrestling with an additional obstacle of having a prospective publisher weed through attaining her estate's publishing credits. However, I am still soliciting, but mainly as a  portfolio piece which showcases my illustration capabilities. For this reason, I figured I'd just post the entire book as a part of my portfolio.

I am working on writing and illustrating my own book, but I realize, even as an illustrator with a specific style, breaking into children's book publishing  is not only a crap shoot, but if someone decides to pick up your book, it's also a mighty long process until the work is published. It may be a long journey, but I am set for the challenge and will keep everyone posted of my progress.

Until then, I am happy to share with you and hope you enjoy my version of Miriam Schlein's 'Lazy Day'!

-CG

(As of 2012, all imagery below is for educational use only, not for print publication Credits: Artwork © Christina Galbiati; words © Miriam Schlein).

Shown below is my handmade paper collage illustration shown at the "Art Takes Times Square" show in NYC on June 18th. Much thanks to Michelle Hunter, (http://twitter.com/artcoholic) for taking the picture. (Direct link to her photos: http://a.yfrog.com/img861/8692/dppf.jpg)

Show below is the full image, a 12" x 12" paper collage; subject/inspiration for the piece was  Monotype Imaging, s global font company. They provide "text imaging and graphical user interface solutions to consumer electronics devices." They also offer "font solutions to independent software vendors who develop applications and operating systems." 

Since they specialize in all things type, I decided to create a custom handmade illustration using their name, and also using as inspiration for the main type/image, the individual metal type characters that were used to set type on old-school letterpress printing machines (Vandercook/Linotype, etc). 
The background pattern was created via the xerography process; using their name in 11pt Goudy Type, and repeatedly copied using a photocopy machine. (Materials used: French Paper, Grape Jelly and Razzle Berry (28/70lb text), French Paper Construction, Steel Blue (28/70lb text), solid black toner ink.)

The result is a handmade paper collage illustration, which symbolizes the importance of tangible print media/type communication in today's digital dependent society.

-CG

(Original artwork is available for purchase; email: [email protected] with subject of email "Monotype" for pricing.)