Cristina Sayers
Cristina Sayers is a collage artist who has exhibited across California in venues such as the Museum of Art & History in Santa Cruz, Las Laguna Gallery in Laguna Beach, and Pajaro Valley Arts in Watsonville. Notable publications include the Santa Clara Review and New Pages blog and magazine. Cristina remains a member of various art collectives such as the Santa Cruz Open Studios and Pajaro Valley Arts Council.
Collage remains an interesting medium because the structure usually entails the use of borrowed imagery and then restructured to become the artist’s own creation. Through the use of vintage, retro cut-outs, Cristina lays upon the surface compositions which communicate advanced pop art aesthetics. Usually constructed with analogue collage, but sometimes also incorporating digital mirrored construction techniques or acrylic paint, Cristina’s subjects of women and animals play upon the surface as if performing at a grand circus.
These collages are performative art pieces where the figurative subjects engage with florals, birds, and beasts which invoke qualities similar to a film or theatre production. The backgrounds typically contain bright colors which variably ‘explode’ upon the surface, spreading out and revealing the focal point figures or animals, typically in neutral tones or black and white. Cristina creates a statement about the passage of time and memory. Through these retro images and composed in a manner to elicit excitement through symmetrical compositions, similar to the design of a poster, she takes unusual and forgotten imagery and gives these subjects new life by restructuring their positions within a theatrical or circus-like presentation.
Cowgirls (pictured above) reminisces towards California-Western aesthetics through both modern imagery of a vintage motel along with 19th century attire and a donkey to symbolize labor. The various cacti and florals within the composition invokes the beating sun of the Mojave desert. Cristina shows mirror images of the figure as if they were twins but upon closer inspection will see the picture becomes shown as inverted. She looks upon her surroundings while being smothered by cacti and florals with confidence and a western grit.
Through grand theatrics and pop art aesthetics, Cristina Sayers collage works are practices in recreating symbolism similarly to the tune of a Broadway musical. Her subjects sing and dance while the contrast between neutral and bright, bold colors creates production values which invoke visual motion, guiding the eye towards the focal point of the figure or animals contained within. Through clever choice of imagery and a grand composure, Cristina creates adventurous works which harken the viewer to relate contemporary imagery with those of the mid-20th century.
