FYI: Catherine Rogers, Cut Out Collage

‘FYI’ is The State of the Arts’ irregular column. In it, we ask artists, writers, authors, curators and other amazing people to tell us a little more about themselves and their work. Short and sweet, it’s the perfect introduction to (your new favourite) local creatives.

What you’ll be discussing:
Cut Out Collage, a creative revolution.

I’d like to talk about it because:
I decided to take a leap last year and share my love of collage with my home city of Liverpool. I moved back after 18 years and it felt like the right place to launch a new creative venture. The aim was to bring accessible, affordable and super enjoyable workshops and events to the north west of England. It blew my mind how many people came to workshops and enjoyed making collages with me. I was so moved by peoples enthusiasm to make art and share it with me and the group. So many incredible masterpieces were made, people encouraged each other, tons of laughs were shared and I got to talk to people about collage for 2-3 hours each time! Totally amazing.

I am inspired by:
Aside from collage, another love of mine is fine line drawing and Aubrey Beardsley has always been the king of that for me. I also love collage artist Hannah Höch, visual artist Pipilotti Rist and Frances MacDonald of the Glasgow four. But overall, the queen of my life is Frida Kahlo, I’ve loved her for a long time, and now her face is on everything so my flat is slowly becoming a Frida ofrenda…I’m definitely okay with that.

How it began:
I’ve been an artist since high school but it wasn’t until I moved home last year that I felt encouraged to try something new, to run workshops. I’ve always believed that making spaces for people to be creative is my gift from God, so starting to run these workshops allowed me to bring that to my hometown, something incredibly humbling and special about that.

My favourite thing about it is:
Seeing people surprise themselves when they get creative and make something they didn’t expect they could or would, it’s the best!

The main challenge of it is:
The current climate has been pretty impactful in that I can’t do anything in person. But I’m looking at this as an opportunity to try and test new things knowing it’s okay if they don’t work or maybe aren’t the right fit. I’m also allowing myself to reflect on the last 5 months, they’ve been a wild ride and I’m not good at taking things slowly, so this huge pause button that has been pressed on my life has forced me to step back. I’m starting to submit to it and allow reflection to take centre stage, it’s amazing what’s coming up for me creatively.

‘Between Heaven and Hell’, Catherine Rogers

Next up I’m thinking about:
How to have the most sensational collage re-opening party/ workshop spectacular ever! I have a lot of amazing supporters who have paid forward for workshops, so they are gonna get the some gorgeous workshops and I think I need to throw a cut and paste party of some description for sure!

Here are some links you might find interesting:
Here is my website: www.cutoutcollage.com
Etsy link: https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/CutOutCollageStore
Instagram @cut_outcollage
Facebook & Twitter: @cutoutcollage

Some final words I’d like to add:
Making art is not about being good at it, it’s being brave enough to put yourself on the page. Also, join the collage revolution!