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This project is designed for kids and adults, ages 6 +

Explore your identity and create a collage that is as unique as you! Cut and collect images from magazines that represent your identity and use an image transfer technique to create a collage with see-through images.

This activity was facilitated as a virtual workshop during the June 2020 virtual Play Date: Creating for Care.

You will need:

Art materials including clear packing tape, scissors, glossy magazine, white sheet of paper, and a black plastic bowl.

  • Old magazines: Glossy magazine images work best (paper printouts or newspapers will not work with this technique).  
  • Clear packing tape
  • Scissors
  • A bowl of water or spray bottle filled with water
  • (Optional) A piece of paper or other surface to be your background for your collage
  • (Optional) glue stick or tape 
  • (Optional) Extra 2D collage materials 
  • (Optional) Coloring/drawing tools
  • An art making space that can get a little wet (have a towel handy!)

Steps:

1. Cut and collect images from magazines that represent you. Think about your culture, heritage, family, friends, community, personality, hobbies – All the things that make up who you are. Find and cut out images from magazines that represent these things.

A pair of scissors with magazine cut-outs of photographs of oranges, an autumn park, a gourmet dish, an outdoor deck, and illustrations of a sparrow and leaves.

2. Cover your image side with packing tape. Make sure your tape is sticking to the side with the image.

A photograph of an autumn park from a magazine cut-out is covered with clear tape on both sides.

3. Once your image is covered, soak it in the bowl of water or spray the paper side with water. Repeat with all your images.

Newspaper and magazine cut-outs soaked in a bowl of water.

4. Peel/rub the paper off of your images. Play around with the soak times. The longer you leave your images in the water, the easier it will be to peel the paper off. Soaking for a shorter period of time will leave more of the paper on your image.
 

A series of four images showing step-by-step a hand peeling off the magazine-cut out paper from the tape to reveal the transferred image.

5. Once you have all your image transfers and they’ve dried, use them to create a collage.  The transparency of the images let you play around with layering. You can collage just with your image transfers, on top of another piece of paper, or even on your window. You can also pair them with photographs, other magazine images, or drawings.
 

Various images and illustrations on clear tape, still slightly wet, after having been soaked in a bowl of water.