Elaine Rado Assemblage Art
Original Art

To start each piece I choose a frame - either a shadow box or a decorative frame from a thrift store.  For the latter, I sometimes build up the back of the frame to add depth.  I search through my collection of images and find a few that grab my attention, then look for others that play off of them. Sometimes I have a special part that I want to incorporate, so I may bring that into the initial organization as well.  After an initial layout, I choose which pieces are background and which should be elevated.  I fill in background gaps with images or parts.  Often this is circuit board, pieces of metal, or some reflective material.  I apply these to a backboard and make decisions about additional content or parts as I go. After deciding the amount of elevation needed, I find parts that are the right height and attach them.  Most assembly is done with glue. 

 

The last step is the longest; adding the little pieces that may not be noticed unless you look closely.   I may sit for hours sifting through my boxes of sorted parts, choosing and then rejecting parts because they don’t ‘look right’ or I don’t have enough of them.  Last, I coat the entire piece with spray gloss to protect images from fading.  Pieces built in shadow boxes usually have glass over them which increases the protection but can cause glare.  Pieces built in decorative picture frames often burst beyond the constraints of the frame so glass is not an option.  I do let the pieces sit for several weeks (months, years) to ensure that all parts are firmly attached and repair any that come loose.

 

All images used are ones I have collected over the years from mailings, gallery postcards, magazines, calendars, books and newspapers - pretty much anything that catches my eye.   For images where the color is too dark or faint, I may scan them into my computer and make some adjustments, then print them on matte photo paper.  I sometimes color into images with pastel or water color pencils to add intensity, saturation, or texture

 

Most of the other pieces used in my work, including those used to build up layers, are salvaged from old electronics:   I find, purchase in thrift shops, or am given discarded radios, DVD and CD players, computers, printers, land line and mobile phones, tablets, televisions, remote controls, even old adding machines.  I disassemble the machines, take off the pieces that I want to use and recycle what is left over.   I sometimes add in dried plants, mirrors, or watch parts.

 

Starting with a theme or trying to plan in advance does not work for me (a hard learned lesson that took over 40 years to sink in.)  Sometimes themes emerge and I follow and develop them.  Sometimes I see them when I am close to done. Others I noticed as I built this website and tried to give pieces names.  

 

I enjoy both the process and the product.  I hope they give you pleasure and perhaps even joy.