Cherie Savoie Tintary
My love for old paper goes back to my childhood when my great aunt Bettye owned an antique business, so at an early age I appreciated ephemera. My grandmother gave me my first vintage photograph when I was 12. I am the keeper of our family heirlooms. My materials come from estate sales and items friends donate to me. I never buy online or pull images from the internet. Instead, I use magazines and books from 1890-1980, the older the better. Collage keeps my mental health in check. I find beauty in making something new from magazines that would just be sitting in a basement otherwise. I love the versatility of working with paper; there are so many options when it comes to cutting, pasting, and tearing. My work evokes nostalgia, often triggering a memory from someone’s past.
Before becoming a collage artist, I was a photographer who shot 35mm film. I studied historic photo processes and traveled to England and New York for workshops, visiting the birth places of photography.
I studied photography and art at Chaffey College in Southern California from 2006-2011, while I worked as a hairstylist.
I have found a connection with the collage community in Oregon and Washington, participating in several collectives. The one I’m most active in is the PNW Collage Collective. We have meet ups and do group art shows, including a group show at Powells in June.
I’m in Second Glances at the Hillsboro Civic Center until Dec 20th, and The Curio at The Reser Gallery until Dec 23rd.
I have been in over 20 publications and I’m part of the mail art movement, allowing me to take part in art shows around the world.
I turned fifty this year, so my new works are about nostalgia for the place I grew up, places I have traveled to, and creative places collage has allowed me to venture to. When I’m not making art, I’m hanging out in Forest Grove with my husband, Lee, and our little dog, Dolly.
Follow along @kitschy_collagist
- this artist from washington county -