In some ways, it seems like collage work is on the downside turn of its recent resurgence. There is so much of it out there, it can be a challenge to find work that feels fresh and original. Los Angeles artist Heather Landis uses a tight palette of color, cheeky use of typography and just the right mix of vintage and modern in her collages.
Her palettes are filled with those decidedly vintage-feeling hues of peaches and pinks, accentuated by the steely greys that were so indicative of the atomic age. Much of her work seems to deal with the coming loss of “innocence” brought on by turbulence of the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, and well, just the end of what many perceive as the The Golden Age of pop culture.
The women in Landis’ collages seem to be blissfully unaware of what is soon to come. Beatific domesticity will give way to struggling to push through the glass ceiling and climbing the corporate ladder.
But Landis isn’t hitting us over the head with messages. Just subtly drawing us in to her happy-go-lucky world, then subversively reminding us that what used to be wasn’t always better.
Want to see more of Heather Landis‘ work? Go on over to her website and her Society6 shop.
