Alberta Whittle is an artist from Barbados who lives in Glasgow. She makes art using collage, painting, sculpture, performance, film and installations.
Alberta says she’s a bit like a magpie because she loves collecting things and bringing them home with her. Some of these objects end up in her artworks.
She enjoys making collages because she likes tearing images apart and putting different ideas next to each other. By mixing words and pictures in new ways, she can explore questions she’s thinking about and reflect on her place in the world.
When Alberta paints, she doesn’t like to feel stiff or careful, she likes to move! That’s why she sometimes uses tambourines as paint palettes to shake things up. She even has a huge box of tambourines in her studio!
Try it yourself
You can try this on your own, with friends or with a family member.
- Collect some old magazines or newspapers with words and pictures you can cut out.
- You’ll also need scissors, paper and glue or sellotape.
- Look through the pages. Which words and pictures might be interesting to put together? Can you pair things that don’t usually go together to make a new meaning? Could the words become a poem?
- Cut out the words and images and arrange them on your paper. Try different layouts before sticking anything down.
- How does your collage change when you swap one word or image? Even small changes can create a completely different meaning. Keep experimenting!
