PRISM: What Collage Means to Me

PRISM is a storytelling series amplifying the experiences, creativity, and imagination of Black, Brown, and Indigenous storytellers based in Kentucky. 

by Jas Turk

“Grounded” by Jas Turk

Current Inspirations:

Dust Tracks on a Road | Zora Neale Hurston

When You’re Ready, This Is How You Heal | Brianna Wiest

Frybread Face and Me | Billy Luther

Lorna Simpson

Mickalene Thomas

 

What Collage Means to Me:

 

It is the middle of the night and I cannot sleep. I had a long day of being Black and queer in spaces that are curious about my Blackness and my queerness, yet do not know how to genuinely receive or hold those parts of me. 

I am tired. 

I spent a whole day holding in my frustrations, queuing my laughs, watching my tone, and forcing a smile for survival. I try to shake the woes of capitalism as I tell myself, “Jas, it is midnight. It’s time to rest.” But the other side of me responds and asks, “How can you rest when…well…C A P I T A L I S M ?” 

I sigh. I ponder…I remember…I have collage. If you are not familiar, collage is a visual artform that combines various materials (such as photographs, magazine clippings, fabric, and/or other various diversities) to create a new artistic offering.

Beyond that, collage is a means for me to breathe and continuously fortifies me through the following:

RITUAL. 

 

I go upstairs to my studio and I pull out my rolling chair. I eagerly sit at my desk and turn on my desk lamp. I pull out my X-ACTO knife and scissors and several pieces of paper, varying in size, color, and shape. I breathe deeply. I look to the right of me to see if my printer is on. I have an idea in my head that I need to get out. I start to source my photos, thumbing through archive after archive, photobank after photobank, until I land on just the right photo. I smile. I find relief in my day and in deep breaths that I couldn’t seem to take just a few mere minutes ago. I look to the left of me and check to see if my printer is on; I size my image and print. Just as eagerly as I jumped into my rolling chair moments ago, I sprint to the printer and grab my sources. I begin to carve out the photo image in front of me and I get lost in sounds of the paper being cut as fragments fly to the wooden floor. I am deep in my ritual and my lungs are filled even deeper with oceanic breaths. I find peace.

 

“The Clearing” by Jas

 Turk

 

REGENERATION.

 

As I finally breathe, I am relieved. I am saved. I am now determined to put into my piece what I have already so mercifully received from it. In these moments I am reminded of regeneration. Collage is giving and I want to give back to it and to others, from it. Through the compilation of the materials that I am now giving new meaning to, my collage becomes a representation and visual reflection of a path traveled–whether it be the path of myself, the subject utilized in the piece, or the perception of the viewer once the piece is finalized and published. Collage allows me to receive and, in turn, offer something new. I am grateful for this. 

 

POSSIBILITY.

 

Collage is hopeful and allows me to consider what is possible. Through the regeneration process, I know that what I put into my work will ultimately translate to a story, a possibility, and/or a conduit towards collective memory. Collage is a means of visual archiving and cultural preservation. It uplifts what was as it incorporates reused and upcycled materials–and reminds me of what can be. As I create, I am reminded of the importance of understanding the past and how it can inspire the present and the future. I am reminded to breathe, to give, to receive, and to not forget what could come of that process. 

 

Jas Turk (they/she) [b. 1990] is a Black, queer self-taught analog collage artist based in Louisville, KY by way of Baltimore, MD. Jas is a cultural sustainability practitioner who received their Master of Arts in Cultural Sustainability from Goucher College in 2021.

They seek to deliver messaging of preservation, Black ancestral remembrance, storytelling, and cultural amplification throughout their creative endeavors.

Their artistic practice includes the incorporation of sourced archival photographs, recycled paper, and other repurposed materials that call to their unique creations. Explore more of their work at www.jasturk.com or by following their work on IG: @jasturk.creates & @BlackCollageCollective