Jenniffer Omaitz will be teaching a brief introduction to the concepts and methods of collaging in this workshop. While gaining popularity in the 20th century, collage, or formally known as paper collé is a form of assembling disparate parts of paper and images to form new associations. This workshop is both lecture based and hands on. We will feature a historical introduction; a condensed history of collage and its persistence as a vibrant and necessary form of the creative process. This will be followed by the introduction of hands on applications that will allow artists and makers to easily begin the process. Additive and subtractive paper techniques, transfer techniques and acrylic mediums will be introduced as forms of attachments and layering in this fun and complex process.

Attendees are encouraged to bring a variety of flat material for trade and participate in making a few works on paper. A $5 suggested donation will be collected at the door. Workshop is free for AST members. 

Jenniffer Omaitz is a local painter and installation artist who lives in Kent, OH. She received her MFA in Painting from Kent State University and her BFA in Painting from the Cleveland Institute of Art. Solo exhibitions of her work have been held at The Sculpture Center, Cleveland; Sandy Carson Gallery, Denver; and Kent State University, Hinterland, Denver, and the 1point618 Gallery, Cleveland. Omaitz is currently a Senior Lecturer at The University of Akron’s Myers School of Art. Jenniffer will be an Akron Soul Train fellow from October 1-30, 2017.

Jenniffer’s work explores states of change between order and chaos present in urban environment, as it is in a constant state of transformation. Her paintings are a meditation on movement, permutation, and gesture; boundary coordinates operating between space and color. These ideas are present in two two ongoing series; Solid Movement, which investigates gesture and its ability to encapsulate time and psyche, and Folding Gesture, which explores changes in spatial order that appears fragmented. Her installation work is site specific using painted painting and drawing in combination with found objects while responding to the site’s architecture. Her installation work often encompass three-dimensional landscapes frozen in the midst of a chaotic event.

Omaitz intends to continue her project Other Geometries during her AST fellowship, in which she creates a series of small works in the studio and connects with local artists to create a collaborative assemblage.