AMANDA BOLLINGER
Allowa, mixed media on reclaimed canvas, 18" x 24", 2018

Amanda Bollinger is an artist living and working in Iowa City. A native of the state, it has only been in the last few years that her wanderlust has subsided enough that she recognizes the amazing loveliness of the Midwest, and Iowa in particular.

Collage is her favorite art form.  Amanda is a vehement environmentalist and uses exclusively recycled, discarded, and second-hand materials to create her art. In order to create the many textures within her collages,  Amanda paints with and on many different types of used paper, cardboard, plastics, or wood - basically anything she can save from the landfill.  The constant calculation of potential canvas or collage material in everything she sees may or may not be a form of slavery. She has produced thousands of collages over the years. Those thousands of pieces have led her to the complex and sophisticated pieces that she takes pride in now.

In her own words:

My current work is a way for me to celebrate Iowa. Our surroundings vary greatly from north to south and east to west across the state. By using textures and patterns that echo each other, I try to reconcile the beauty of the rural landscape with the necessary interruptions created by technology used to sustain our cities. There is also an elegance to cityscapes that becomes more alluring when infused with the colors of the countryside. Iowa is such a diverse state in many ways; the juxtaposition of such varied forms, textures, and finishes reflect that. The idea of flowers that look like windmills that look like trees that look like bones that look like buildings is appealing to me. Each is an integral aspect of life, no matter how far removed from one or the others we may be most of the time.