Call for Issue 13: Summer 2024
Curated by Katie Blake

Deadline for submissions: April 1, 2024

Nearby, Between

“We find beauty not in the thing itself but in the patterns of shadows, the light and the darkness, that one thing against another creates.”

– Junichiro Tanizaki

Most of us are extraordinarily busy. When I find myself in the whirlwind of a day, it can be absolutely breathtaking to revel in moments of stillness, whether they are simply felt or seen: the quiet amid noise, the valley between mountains. I often contemplate the role that artwork can play in creating this sense.

Cut Me Up Issue 13 asks artists to explore the Japanese concept of Ma 間. Ma is described as a “pause in time, an interval or emptiness in space.”1 The idea of Ma is to make emptiness into a substance itself. “In ancient art forms like bonsai-pruning and ikebana flower arrangement, the contours of the vacant space between components is as important as each stem, each branch, each blossom.”2 How can space become more intentional within an overall work? Can it create emphasis for what is nearby? If there are a multitude of elements, what impact would a space or void have?

There are several collage techniques that may naturally lend themselves to this exploration including: Puzzle or Interlocking Collage — where elements do not overlap but which still might be fitted together; Minimal Collage — using a limited number of elements; and Tableau-Objects — a display or collection of elements, not necessarily adhered together but which have a relationship.

– Katie Blake, Artist

To submit artwork responses:

  • Evoke the concept of Ma.

  • Consider working with a collage technique that is new to you.

  • Artworks responses may be in any media and may incorporate other materials.

  • All eligible submissions must incorporate some portion or portions of Cut Me Up: Issue 12.

Issue 13 Curator Katie Blake

Katie Blake is an artist, information professional, and the author of the book, What Kind Of Collage Is That? Blake’s educational background includes a bachelor’s in fine art, a master’s in library and information science and a master’s in art history. Blake lives and works with her dogs in Eagle River, Alaska, where she enjoys working in collage and reading, especially if the books are about collage or visual information.

Instagram: @whatapageturner


Cut Me Up Issue 13: Nearby, Between was published on July 1, 2024.