ASSEMBLA MAGAZINE
ISSUE #1
AUGUST 2024
EDITOR’S NOTE Welcome to the inaugural issue of Assembla Magazine, a publication that celebrates the visual poetry of assemblage and 3D collage. This issue marks the beginning of a journey into mediums that combine storytelling with the imaginative repurposing of everyday objects or historical artifacts as they pay homage to the forgotten, the discarded, and the rediscovered.
Assemblage is more than an artistic technique. It is a meditation on memory and identity. Our featured artists engage in the careful curation of ephemera, family archives, or found artifacts. In so doing, they reveal beauty in imperfections as they recontextualize the lost, the overlooked, the everyday. These works breathe new life into what was once discarded, inviting you to explore the intersection of curiosity, wonder, nostalgia, and memorialization. Each piece transforms seemingly insignificant objects into extraordinary art objects and narratives that challenge us to uncover deeper meanings and connections.
In this issue, we delve into the art of foraging and collecting. The showcased pieces challenge us to explore our relationship with the objects around us and reflect on how our identities are shaped by the memories we carry.
We hope this issue inspires you to find beauty in the overlooked and to uncover the stories waiting to be unearthed.
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Kate Stehr, “Brush Telegrah I II and III”
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Exploring Memory, Family Archives, and Assemblage: A Q&A with JP Terlizzi JP Terlizzi is a New York City lens-based artist whose contemporary practice explores themes of memory, relationships, and identity. His images are rooted in the personal and are heavily influenced by the notions of home, legacy, and family. He is curious about how the past relates to and intersects with the present and how the present enlivens the past, shaping one’s identity. JP earned a BFA in Communication Design at Kutztown University of Pennsylvania with a background in graphic design and advertising. He has studied photography at both the International Center of Photography in New York and Maine Media College in Rockport, ME. JP’s work has been exhibited extensively in galleries and museums across the United States and abroad and is represented in the permanent collections of the Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Candela Gallery, The Center for Fine Art Photography, as well as many corporate and private collections.
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The Matriarch
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Séverine Chauveau www.severinechauveau.com
@severinechauveau
BIOGRAPHY
ARTIST STATEMENT
Séverine Chauveau’s work questions the materiality of photography and its relationship to time and objects. It will be shown at the University of Reunion Island in October 2024. It was also presented in July 2023 at the International Festival of Photography in Barcelona in two group exhibitions: “Jouer contre les expositions”, curated by Pablo Giori, Co-Director of the festival, and “Ausstellungseröffnung” on the theme of materiality in photography at the Institute of Photographic Studies of Catalonia. A book published by Éditions Azalées and directed by Patrick Singaïny, an essayist from La Réunion, was published in 2013 following the double exhibition “Haunted Images - Anté Images” presented in St Denis de la Réunion. Séverine Chauveau studied visual arts at the University of Paris 1 Panthéon- Sorbonne.
Through an exploration of the materiality of photography and the close link it maintains with time, the artist questions her own relationship to memory and forgetting. Experimentation with the boundaries of photography led Séverine Chauveau to apprehend the medium in an unconventional form: volume, texture, abstraction, hybridization. Photography becomes a material to be manipulated and combined to create small “souvenir objects”. These images are taken from the “Formal Memories” project: “It’s curious how a memory is created. I remember a feeling, smell, shape, or color more often than something specific. These thousands of moments have become frozen in small soft and shiny colored masses, a beauty fossilized into a small memory-object, suddenly precious, that I keep in the hollow of my memory.”
Formal Memories: My Mother’s Dress
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Formal Memories: The Orange Lounge
Formal Memories: The Rock
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Lou Camerato www.jabilou.com
@lou.camerato.art
BIOGRAPHY Lou Camerato, based in Akron, Ohio, began his artistic journey at Hartford Art School, University of Hartford, before transitioning to a career in accounting and finance at Central Connecticut State University. After 47 years in business finance, Lou returned to his passion for art in 2021 rebranding his studio as Just Another Bright Idea Productions. Specializing in assemblage and mixed media, his works reflect a blend of found objects and diverse mediums, exploring themes of personal introspection and symbolic narratives. Lou has showcased his art in juried exhibitions nationwide and throughout northeast Ohio, earning accolades and awards. His pieces have been featured at prominent venues including the Canton Museum of Art, The Massillon Museum, and Summit ArtSpace.
Caged
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Time Wel
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ARTIST STATEMENT Lou Camerato, who resides in West Akron, is an artist known for his unique found object assemblage art. His creative process involves gathering items from various sources, intuitively selecting those that resonate with him, often feeling as though they carry a hidden message urging him to “take me home.” Lou describes his creations as a form of visual journaling, each piece rich in metaphoric imagery that reflects his inner conflicts and personal triumphs. In addition to found object assemblage art, Lou works with other mediums such as acrylic and collage. Occasionally, he combines these different mediums into his assemblages, adding depth and complexity to his artistic expression. Through his art, Lou Camerato not only showcases his creativity but also invites viewers to explore the narratives and emotions embedded within each carefully crafted piece.
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Memorial Day Reflection_Letters Unread
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Journey of Reflection: A Q&A with Donna Watson
Donna Watson is a mixed media artist. Her work includes paintings, collage, assemblage, and handmade books. Her works have been accepted into numerous juried national and international exhibitions and she has received many awards. Donna has extensive experience as a workshop instructor and juror all over the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Mexico. Her works have been widely published in art magazines like The Artist’s Magazine. Her works have also been published in books including MASTERS COLLAGE: Major Works by Leading Artists and THE PULSE OF MIXED MEDIA by Seth Apter as well as more recent books like FRAGMENTATION AND REPAIR by Shelley Rhodes.
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Ageless Time
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Gwen Samuels www.gwensamuels.com
@gwensamuels
BIOGRAPHY Gwen Samuels considers her work mixed media installation. She has a studio in Santa Monica and is originally from NY where she completed a BFA in textile design at Syracuse University. Gwen has shown in numerous group exhibitions both locally and internationally. Locally, in 2023, she was invited to show in a comprehensive group show called Connective Threads. Gwen was selected to participate in a two-year artist in Embassies placement at the American Embassy in Greece for 2017-2019. In 2024, she was chosen to participate in an experimental residency called Studio Systems at the Torrance Art Museum. Gwen has shown her work in two virtual art shows. Her works and art inspirations have been covered by various media and publications including Shout Out LA, Modern Luxury San Diego, Art and Cake, Voyage LA, and a publication series by Schiffer Publishing called Artistry in Fiber, Vol.1: Wall Art and Artistry in Fiber, Vol.2: Sculpture.
ARTIST STATEMENT My work is about transformation, using familiar materials in unexpected ways. I am interested in reconfiguring shapes and patterns by printing in repeat on transparency. Each piece has a different form, either flat or sculpted, combined with delicate hand-stitching and multi-colored threads hanging free that interact with light to create a unique visual experience.
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Expanding Ideas
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The Essence of Assemblage: A Q&A with Kharris Brill
Her moniker, Kharris, is derived from her “art name” when she was single (Kathryn Harris). She moved to Maine from Utah in 1989, lived on Peaks Island for seven years, and attended Portland School Of Art. She then moved to South Portland for several years, and since 2008 has been living in Bath with her husband Ken. Most of her work is self-educated, learning new tools and techniques as she goes. Her creations include linear stained glass pieces, batik, reclaimed wood furnituremaking, and found object assemblages. In all her media, she finds inspiration in the work of Frank Lloyd Wright and Joseph Cornell. She tries to use salvage for anything she can. In July 2015 she opened her own shop, Kharris B, in downtown Bath. Just prior to the pandemic, she moved her shop into her home in Bath, and in 2023 began seeking to exhibit her work again.
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Crickets
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@nancybenoy www.nancybenoy.com
Nancy Benoy
Nancy Benoy is a self-taught artist and educator in Hamilton, Ontario. Nancy’s practice spans over 20 years. Her art and teaching practices are rooted in self-expression, experimentation, process. Materials play an integral role: saturated inks, luminous watercolours, rich acrylics, found objects, and natural resources speak to her and find their voice in her works. Compositions are captured in an abstract manner. Nancy advocates for art in the community, facilitating accessible, playful, and process-based art workshops in the Hamilton area, including Dundas Valley School of the Art and Art Gallery of Hamilton. She was nominated for the City of Hamilton Art Educator Award and was co-recipient of the City of Hamilton Arts Champion for her podcast “ArtToGo.” Among other spaces, her work has been shown at the Art Gallery of Hamilton, Assembly Gallery, Paul Elia Gallery, and has work in private collections in Canada, the US, and the UK.
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Golden Glow
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