rubber cement

I was having dinner with some friends the other day and we got to talking about the inner need to create most of us slowly drown out while we’re busy adulting. As kids we draw, write stories, make up songs, etc. We let our little selves get lost in the endless space of creating things. Curious and self-directed, we often stumble into an artistic world that feels uniquely our own. For me, one of those things was making collages.

I remember sitting in my bedroom with old magazines, a pair of scissors, and a jar of rubber cement. Originally, my collages were sportsy. One had a classic dunk contest photo of Dominque Wilkins in the middle, surrounded by cityscapes, packed arenas, and overlapping NBA players. In my teenage years they got a little more abstract, usually influenced by music. They took hours to create over the course of a few days. Some were smallish, but others filled a full 24x36 poster.

I made dozens of them, well into my twenties. But eventually, I threw all my magazine scraps and artists’ panels away. I think it was equal parts moving on and finding minimalism. Regardless, there were a few great little pieces. Nostalgia.