With collage art, the process is just as important as the finished piece. Beth Hoeckel knows best. Based in Austin TX, Hoeckel loves rummaging through vintage publications ranging from the 1920s to the 1970s, in the search for just the right material for each piece.
“I love to mindlessly flip through pages and then tear out any page that I like or that speaks to me in some way,” she relayed in an interview with society6’s blog. According to Hoeckel, while her earlier work relied mainly on imagery from National Geographic, she now tries to find rarer publications, looking out for an image that speaks to her. This process is mostly spontaneous.
“The next step is cutting out specific bits from those pages and then I scan them,” says Hoeckel., adding that while in the past she used to do everything analog, she now works on digitizing her materials. “But basically I am extremely intuitive and so the whole process is informed by my subconscious,” she notes. “That includes knowing when a work is complete. It’s 100% based on feeling.”
Her intuitive approach to art making seems to be working for her. In the the past 5 years or so, her work has been exhibited worldwide and published in top tier magazines. Her clients include brands like Rookie, Domino, and The New York Times. But you can also follow her work on Instagram:
