Angela Rio makes colorful collages that have a graphic edge to them. The Philadelphia-based artist loves experimenting with paper, making her collages pop up from the page as if they were, in fact, paper sculptures.
“I work with paper to balance form, tactility, and color in an image,” she told Ape on the Moon. “My process relies heavily on being resourceful with scrap materials made of anything from paper, wood, cardboard, plexiglass, transparency film, or styrofoam.”
“The scale of the piece is determined once I find a few pieces that work with my sketch, then I can start cutting shapes with scissors or an x-acto blade to build my small paper sculptures. This is when experimentation plays an important role. Depending on the material, I’ll either use paint or pens to embellish the pieces with a geometric pattern or facial expression.”
And though she admits the process is messy, she loves getting her hands dirty. “It may seem like a lot of time and energy for one illustration but it feels like play. There’s so much opportunity to get your mind off of things and forget about your surroundings.”
Check her out.
