Anouk Sugàr

Strike A Light was an open call initiated by the Edinburgh Collage Collective, asking international artists to integrate the matchbox or some of its elements into a collage. In August was then published an A5 sized catalogue featuring 45 incredibly diverse and beautiful art works. Rage is my proposed piece, displayed on page 49.

​

How my collage came about

Rage has many interpretations. It is often the result of repressed frustration. This was the case for me as I was working on this collage. Before it came to its final composition, the piece went through many transformations, which all left me very unsatisfied. In the end, the open call deadline soon approaching, I started scribbling wildly on the already overworked piece with a pencil, thinking that I might just as well get rid of it, since it was not coming along as I wanted. I went on using a rubber, suddenly overwhelmed by exasperation and annoyance. I was literally on fire by that time and my strokes looked like sparks. I then added the reddish-brown ink at the bottom, that somewhat looks like a blood splatter. Observing my creative process in hindsight, I felt it translated aggressiveness, as well as something quite violent and unsettling.

​

Interpretations of a work of art are many and they are, as far as I am concerned to remain as open and free as possible. In this case however, reflecting on the current worrisome times, striking a light might be inhabited by the wish to bring hope and good fortune upon us. It is also, as the light from the match flames up, the intent, in this magical moment that lasts seconds, to reactivate good memories and hope.