mixed media monday - either or

either or - mixed media collage by Kaija Rantakari, 2017 / www.paperiaarre.com I named my latest mixed media piece Either Or. For those moments when things seem so black and white, when we feel the world will collapse if we don't get what our heart desires, when the world either has colour or it hasn't.

either or - mixed media collage by Kaija Rantakari, 2017 / www.paperiaarre.com

Either Or was built inside an old cigarette box, with the bottom half of it an unfurling cluster of different kinds of blacknesses. Surely that's one way to describe it. Watch the video to see the piece fully opened, and view more detailed photos below.

Post by Kaija Rantakari (@paperiaarre)

either or - detail of a mixed media collage by Kaija Rantakari, 2017 / www.paperiaarre.com

either or - detail of a mixed media collage by Kaija Rantakari, 2017 / www.paperiaarre.com

(vintage cigarette box, photos, cut up text, photo album pages, photo negative, book illustration, cotton thread, monofilament thread)

the closed box measures 9x8,2x1,5 cm / 3.5"x3.2"x0.6"

the opened booklet measures 31x22,5 cm / 12.2"x8.9"

either or - detail of a mixed media collage by Kaija Rantakari, 2017 / www.paperiaarre.com

either or - detail of a mixed media collage by Kaija Rantakari, 2017 / www.paperiaarre.com

either or - detail of a mixed media collage by Kaija Rantakari, 2017 / www.paperiaarre.com

either or - detail of a mixed media collage by Kaija Rantakari, 2017 / www.paperiaarre.com

My days go from painfully vibrantly colourful to ones tinged with gray, and it's all good. I find myself in a good spot creatively, and now it's time to learn how to nurture that creativity and myself.