Artist Finds Excitement in Collage Creation Process

Professor Paul Martyka works to create collages that speak to viewers and challenge them to investigate the pieces.

Some might describe spending 60 hours creating a hand-cut paper collage as tedious, but artist Paul Martyka sees the process as nothing less than an exciting and unpredictable adventure.

Since July 2007, the associate professor of printmaking has been creating unique, intricate collages, culminating in the “Conversations with an Echo” exhibition in Winthrop’s Elizabeth Dunlap Patrick Gallery through Jan. 14. To date, Martyka, the fourth recipient of the Elizabeth Dunlap Patrick Gallery faculty grant, has created 88 collages using cut strips of charcoal paper in various colors and weaving them into patterns.

Martyka draws inspiration from many sources, including art history finds, architecture, cultural artifacts, even everyday objects – anything that is “seductive in shape and form,” he said. The artist relies on drawings he makes from memory to guide the direction of the collages. While he begins with color sequences in mind, his creations often move in unexpected ways. Some shapes dictate form for future pieces, and failed pieces sometimes get recycled into new ones.

“It’s a very evolutionary process – figuring out what works and what doesn’t work, letting intuition move in the piece,” said Martyka. “The excitement of what future pieces might hold keeps me going.”

The collages have garnered regional attention and accolades. Last fall, his collage “Totemic Talk,” featured in the S.C. State Museum’s 20th Anniversary Juried Exhibition, won Best in Show and the museum’s Purchase Award. His collages also have been featured in an Arts Council of York County exhibition as well as the Patrick Gallery show.

Martyka, who joined the Department of Fine Arts faculty in 1979, said he works to create collages that speak to viewers and challenge them to investigate the pieces.“There needs to be a challenge to the viewer in the pieces. I want them to dream into the works and try to understand what’s going on, to respond to the pieces at some level,” said Martyka.

Want to see his work? Martyka and other faculty members’ work is on exhibition through Jan. 14. The galleries are closed Dec. 21-Jan. 4.