Naturalistic Collages Celebrate the Little Things in Our World

I’m fascinated by the amount of little things that there are in the world. Going to overstuffed antique malls and examining all the small objects crammed onto the shelves is enthralling: people have amassed collections of buttons, figurines, flags, postcards, and much, much more, and I love to see how these objects are grouped together. I feel the same way when I look at collages by Adrienne Slane, an Ohio-based artist whose intricate pieces are careful gathering of images. Her diverse imagery includes shells, wildlife, fruit, and fungi, with sources ranging from the 1500s to mid-1900s. The disparate elements come together in a pleasing compositions.

“My work celebrates the beauty and interconnectivity of the universe in a time when our environment is in crisis,” she writes in her artist statement. “It draws its imagery from a wealth of illustrations that encouraged exploration, wonder, and appreciation of nature in decades past.”