MEL KOLSTAD · COLLAGE & PRINTMAKING ARTIST

Layers. Texture.

Little Things Worth Noticing.

Mel Kolstad creates one-of-a-kind collages inspired by the colors, textures and details of the world around her.

Paper, fabric, fibers, embroidery and printmaking come together in work that rewards curiosity—and a closer look.

A GLIMPSE OF HER WORK

Made from Many Things.

Her website divides her work into Forest Floor Collages, In the Clearing Collages, Letterpress Collages, Landscape Collages, and other one-off pieces. Her letterpress collages begin with vintage wood type and cuts, while her drypoint prints are printed on a small press and then hand-watercolored, sometimes incorporating monoprinting. 

MEET THE ARTIST

Mel Kolstad

Mel is a collage and printmaking artist who seems quite comfortable letting different materials, processes and ideas find their way into her work.

Her Forest Floor pieces combine hand-dyed papers and fabrics, fibers, silk, scrim, machine and hand embroidery—and sometimes whatever else she discovers that feels like it belongs.

Other work begins with vintage letterpress type, drypoint printing or watercolor.

The result is art filled with layers, textures and small discoveries—some immediately apparent and others waiting for us to find them. 

Look a Little Longer

What do you see?

Don't think too hard about it. Just look.

A ridge?

Water?

A rocky shoreline?

Something else entirely?

Then I would use your thought almost exactly:

There is no right answer.

And one final invitation:

Now look at the materials themselves. What do you notice that you didn't see before?

There’s More to Discover

This is only a glimpse of Mel's work. Explore more of her collages, prints and mixed-media pieces—and discover what can happen when materials, imagination and the little things around us come together.