Written and Created by Emerson Brady
My very first assignment in college was to create a collage about myself. I scoured my
photos for pictures of places, people, and art in the hopes that they would piece together
somewhat of a self-portrait. I spent hours cutting, distorting, and layering every photo. I never
considered myself as an artist until after I discovered how meticulous and artful collages can be.
I loved that despite being torn and layered every photo still carried meaning. It’s been almost a year since I created that collage. It feels like everything has changed since then. Some days it feels like everything that was once so important to me doesn’t matter quite as much. I used to be so wrapped up in planning my future and my career, but planning, in general, feels silly now. Everything I once worried about seems so frivolous when the federal government has deployed the military to your city to violently end “Black Lives Matter” protests, all while there is still a global pandemic. I no longer have the capacity to plan for next year nor do I want to. In times like these, I take it day by day.
When I look at this collage I made to represent who I was a year ago I feel nostalgic for
how hopeful I was. I’m also reminded that even though the world looks different, the people,
places, and art that I pieced together still mean just as much to me now as they did a year ago.
My perspective has changed, but my collage remains the same.
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