Vahge is a young collage artist from Brooklyn, who blows new life into old fashion magazines. As an isolated child living in the quiet suburbs of South Baltimore, Vahge learned to use her imagination at a very young age. She befriended muppets, made up stories, until one day she started creating the collages she still creates today.
In Vahge’s work, which is thoughtfully constructed from layers of paper, elegant ladies are presented in a colourful Victorian-like style. When we look at them a slightly bit longer, the oddity appears: dresses created out of countless photo fragments, and unmatching eyes which might have once belonged to famous models. They’re not just pretty.. they’re awkward too. “Women are strange creatures, they have a unique strength, fragility, beauty, ugliness, insanity, and complexity that is irresistible and intriguing.” Vahge explains. “It feels natural for me to experiment with elements of fantasy on the female form in the characters of my work.”
Storytelling is an important part of her working process. She spends a long time on dressing, decorating and even naming her characters. Vahge likes the idea of building sets for them, and the details she selects help her to create the settings. This comes from her love for portraiture: “I’ve always been curious about old portraits and what the person in the portrait was like, what their life was like”.
Now, on her turn, Vahge enables us to wonder the same about her beautifully odd ladies.
Website: www.vahge.com
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