Kevin Sampsell

Fruits & Vegetables (collages)

by Kevin Sampsell

I’ve been in love with collaging for about seven years now. My first pieces seemed to focus a lot on words. Then they transitioned more to images, usually in some kind of strange or humorous mash-up. More recently, I’ve focused a lot on random colors and shapes. Most of the color circles I use in these collages are from vintage magazines and books, where they were often used as background colors. While searching for these colors I also took notice of the creative typography used in these publications as well—mainly in advertisements. Much of this old typography creatively used color as well. I would cut through the middle part of a word and use the fragment as a kind of accent to the circles, using language and shape in an effort to balance (or possibly disrupt) the overall sight. Combining these elements together created a lot of exciting new collages for me. Though abstract, they'd sometimes suggest objects, faces, or food. These “Fruits & Vegetables Collages” were made in this spirit. None were premeditated to be 100% representational, meaning I’d make them and then figure out what it looked like. For instance, I don’t really think the Fruit Salad one looks very appetizing. And the Soursop one could have been titled Avocado 2, but I already had an avocado so I googled other fruit* images and discovered something called a Soursop. Someday I may try to find a real soursop and see what it tastes like.

*Making collages can be educational too, as I learned that avocados are mostly referred to as fruit (although it is listed as a vegetable in some health studies).