Optional Pocket Poltergeist Workshop
February 2, 2020
Want to liven up a boring dinner party? Get yourself out of a bad date quickly? Scare off the neighbors, or the taxman? You need a Pocket Poltergeist! An ancient device long forgotten has been rediscovered and now you too can have your own Pocket Poltergeist™
In this one-day workshop we’ll capture the spirit of a lost soul and create a beautiful and portable reliquary for our new guest. Using an abandoned cigarette case as our container, we’ll integrate collage, transparencies and found objects into a work of art as exquisite as it is haunting. How you choose to use your reliquary is of course up to you.
Some restrictions apply. No guarantee of induced fear due to the desensitization of current society, especially if intended audience has ever watched Game of Thrones or the Walking Dead.
About the Instructor
Andrea Matus is a Vancouver-based mixed media artist whose artwork defies easy categorization. She merges painting, collage, assemblage, and sculpture in ways that challenge conventional distinctions between these forms and creates work that is both beautiful and conceptually rich.
Matus’ art is rooted in a celebration of femininity, resilience, and creativity, drawing from sources as diverse as contemporary culture, mythology, historic iconography, and her own travel experiences. By combining these disparate elements, she creates surreal worlds that transport the viewer to new times and places.
Each motif in Matus’ artworks is selected with care, and her original illustrations, color choices, and use of ornamentation and symbolism combine to create powerful visual statements that tell compelling stories. The improvisational nature of her collage techniques coupled with a very precise paint process combine spontaneity and premeditation in her work resulting in pieces that feel unique and meticulously crafted.
Matus’ willingness to experiment with new materials and techniques is central to her practice. Her recent series, Optical Collages, demonstrates her ongoing dedication to pushing the boundaries of what is possible in mixed media art.
Matus is involved with exhibitions and workshops held throughout the world and a growing base of collectors in North America, Australia and Europe.
Supplies
- What you need:
A few of your favourite ghostly images (old cabinet card style photos work well) Your class kit will include a full sheet of images so need to go overboard with this. - A couple of your favourite images printed out on acetate (transparency film) – I will also provide a couple of these images but if you want to use your own images bring them along.
- A few found object-y things, we are working fairly small, so think about things like keyholes, gears, small brass findings, little wings, eyeballs, little dolly bits, buttons, lace, etc., you get the idea
- Paintbrushes– bring just a few in different sizes and one better quality detail brush.
- Palette & Water Container
- Scissors
- Your usual marking making tools (pencils, markers, etc.)
Instructor Supplies
Andrea will be providing the following supplies for a $25.00 material fee. The material fee will be collected on the first day of the workshop. Supplied materials include:
- Latched Cigarette Case – size is roughly 3.7”X3.8” by 0.7” deep for image reference
- Small piece of mica
- Piece of matte board
- Acetate with imagery
- A small package of collage materials
- Use of texture plates
- Aves Epoxy Clay
- Use of all Golden Paints and Mediums
- Use of specialty adhesives