My mixed media collage paintings are abstractions that yield specifics upon closer inspection, layers of snippets of text, photos, advertisements, found papers, artwork, notes, etc. The eclectic fragments melt into a bigger picture, inspired by cities and the people that are their soul. My pieces are a creative way of processing all that I absorb and experience, and they reflect the ideas I take in from meeting different people, from consuming diverse thinkers’ art and poetry, from looking around at the world when I travel. My art is a visual, creative manifestation of my desire that we can all “live, and let live.” Most people want the first part of that- they want to be accepted as they are, tolerated at the minimum, appreciated, understood. But they forget the second part. We demand our rights but forget our responsibilities. It is much more difficult to “let live” unless the person lives in a way that we understand, agree with, or endorse. My paintings try to install a curiosity about diverse ideas and personalities. They celebrate beauty, stare into darkness, but have a sense of humour or sarcasm, too, in recognition that we can be amused by the absurdities of the human journey. Humans don’t come readymade- we are like ongoing collages, really, with new connections and ideas constantly changing what we have accumulated already. My art challenges people to understand that true tolerance comes with their own evolution.  The more you give, the more you get.
www.mixedupmedia.ca

Lorette C. Luzajic is a Toronto, Canada based visual artist and writer. Her collage paintings are collected around the world, and frequently appear in literary journals, too. Lorette is the editor of The  Ekphrastic Review, a journal devoted to writing inspired by art. She is currently at work on her fifth collection of poetry.