No. 02 – Original Collage on Paper by Erin McGrath Rieke
About this Artwork
I created No. 02 in 2022 using reclaimed fragments from my earlier artworks alongside repurposed materials including magazine pages, newspaper clippings, book paper, and found printed textures. This 11 x 14 inch original collage on paper grew from a deeply personal place of reflection and emotional examination.
As I worked, I became increasingly aware of how closely the process mirrored the realities of mental and emotional life. Thoughts rarely arrive in straight lines. Healing is rarely linear. Identity itself can feel fragmented at times, shaped by memory, grief, resilience, fear, growth, and the constant movement between clarity and uncertainty.
Cutting apart previous artworks and layering them beside pieces of printed language, aged paper, and discarded materials became symbolic of that experience for me. Each torn edge and overlapping fragment carried traces of history. Some pieces held emotional weight from earlier works I had created. Others came from books, magazines, or newspapers that once belonged to entirely different conversations and moments in time. Together, those materials formed a surface that reflected the fluctuating nature of mental health itself. The highs and lows. The overstimulation and silence. The unraveling and rebuilding that so often happen simultaneously.
This work explores the idea that reflection requires honesty. Not perfection, not resolution, but the willingness to sit with ourselves as we are. The layered collage elements visually echo that process, where scattered experiences slowly reorganize themselves into something more grounded, compassionate, and whole.
Though intimate in scale, No. 02 invites slow viewing and close observation. Textured surfaces, overlapping forms, printed remnants, and subtle shifts in color reveal themselves gradually, much like emotional awareness itself.
Artwork Details
Artist: Erin McGrath Rieke
Title: No. 02
Year Created: 2022
Medium: Collage using reclaimed original artworks, magazine paper, newspaper, and book pages on paper
Artwork Size: 11 W x 14 H x 0.5 D in
Frame Size: 16 W x 20 H x 1 D in
Style: Abstract / Contemporary Collage
Subject: Reflection, emotional health, personal growth
Original Artwork: One-of-a-kind
Frame: Included
Additional Information
My collage work is rooted in introspection, emotional complexity, and transformation through process. I often incorporate repurposed materials including fragments of older paintings, magazine pages, newspapers, book paper, handwritten marks, and found textures to create layered abstract compositions filled with memory and reinvention.
In No. 02, the fragmented surface becomes a visual representation of emotional fluctuation and self-reflection. The work speaks to the reality that mental health is not fixed or static. It shifts continuously, carrying moments of heaviness, clarity, confusion, resilience, and renewal. Through layering and reconstruction, I wanted to create a piece that feels both vulnerable and restorative.
Collecting Original Artwork
My original collage artworks combine layered abstraction, reclaimed materials, and emotional depth through an intuitive and sustainable creative practice. Each piece is created by hand as a one-of-a-kind contemporary artwork shaped by memory, reflection, and lived experience.
Collectors drawn to contemporary collage art, emotional abstraction, mixed media artwork, and textured paper compositions may also connect with other original works by Erin McGrath Rieke.
No. 02 – Original Collage on Paper by Erin McGrath Rieke
About this Artwork
I created No. 02 in 2022 using reclaimed fragments from my earlier artworks alongside repurposed materials including magazine pages, newspaper clippings, book paper, and found printed textures. This 11 x 14 inch original collage on paper grew from a deeply personal place of reflection and emotional examination.
As I worked, I became increasingly aware of how closely the process mirrored the realities of mental and emotional life. Thoughts rarely arrive in straight lines. Healing is rarely linear. Identity itself can feel fragmented at times, shaped by memory, grief, resilience, fear, growth, and the constant movement between clarity and uncertainty.
Cutting apart previous artworks and layering them beside pieces of printed language, aged paper, and discarded materials became symbolic of that experience for me. Each torn edge and overlapping fragment carried traces of history. Some pieces held emotional weight from earlier works I had created. Others came from books, magazines, or newspapers that once belonged to entirely different conversations and moments in time. Together, those materials formed a surface that reflected the fluctuating nature of mental health itself. The highs and lows. The overstimulation and silence. The unraveling and rebuilding that so often happen simultaneously.
This work explores the idea that reflection requires honesty. Not perfection, not resolution, but the willingness to sit with ourselves as we are. The layered collage elements visually echo that process, where scattered experiences slowly reorganize themselves into something more grounded, compassionate, and whole.
Though intimate in scale, No. 02 invites slow viewing and close observation. Textured surfaces, overlapping forms, printed remnants, and subtle shifts in color reveal themselves gradually, much like emotional awareness itself.
Artwork Details
Artist: Erin McGrath Rieke
Title: No. 02
Year Created: 2022
Medium: Collage using reclaimed original artworks, magazine paper, newspaper, and book pages on paper
Artwork Size: 11 W x 14 H x 0.5 D in
Frame Size: 16 W x 20 H x 1 D in
Style: Abstract / Contemporary Collage
Subject: Reflection, emotional health, personal growth
Original Artwork: One-of-a-kind
Frame: Included
Additional Information
My collage work is rooted in introspection, emotional complexity, and transformation through process. I often incorporate repurposed materials including fragments of older paintings, magazine pages, newspapers, book paper, handwritten marks, and found textures to create layered abstract compositions filled with memory and reinvention.
In No. 02, the fragmented surface becomes a visual representation of emotional fluctuation and self-reflection. The work speaks to the reality that mental health is not fixed or static. It shifts continuously, carrying moments of heaviness, clarity, confusion, resilience, and renewal. Through layering and reconstruction, I wanted to create a piece that feels both vulnerable and restorative.
Collecting Original Artwork
My original collage artworks combine layered abstraction, reclaimed materials, and emotional depth through an intuitive and sustainable creative practice. Each piece is created by hand as a one-of-a-kind contemporary artwork shaped by memory, reflection, and lived experience.
Collectors drawn to contemporary collage art, emotional abstraction, mixed media artwork, and textured paper compositions may also connect with other original works by Erin McGrath Rieke.
