Firstly, who are you?
A geriatric skate rat who loves collage and works in the Art Department in Film & TV. Born in Perth in 1974, started travelling heavily about 1996 and after 21 back to back summers over 11 years I settled in Melbourne.

Give us a brief creative background. How you came into working with collage?
Everything I have ever done has seemed to involve collage and remixing something that already exists. My first creative love: skateboarding involves editing the cityscape into the collage of obstacles that you are interested in. I then messed around on turntables for years - making sound collages. I was a magazine editor for many years, which is basically collaging words and images. Also a video editor, which again is collage of the moving image.

Why collage?
After decades of having time off my skating here and there as I recovered from injuries and staring at screens for work and I was drawn to old school cut and paste. Late-night collage with some tunes takes me to my happy place.

Describe your practice/ workspace (ie: messy, sorted cut outs, rituals, methods of working etc)I have a few small sets of drawers that are home to pre-cut pieces. Files full of backdrops. Shelves full of mags. If I know something will work I will cut it out and keep it until a full idea emerges. Then I usually glue them in binges. No matter how organised I try to be, collage by it very nature is messy.

How has your practice evolved?
Better blades, different glues, more organisation. I used to try and finish a piece in one sitting, but then you tend to spend too much time browsing. Also I have some self-imposed regulations. I started off only using National Geographic mags from December 1989 and earlier. But lately I have been somewhat focused on the early 60's and late 50's issue. I just love the colours, and the texture of the paper. Over time I have also worked out how to extend the backgrounds for the pieces in length and height, which was tricky to begin with due to the small page size.

The era of magazines you currently draw from has a lot of politically incorrect imagery. How do you dodge this bullet?
By breaking apart the images you can take them out of their context and create a whole new discussion. I like to elevate the victims of these articles and make fun of the world powers and bigots.

Where to next?
Off to get some surgery on a broken finger then straight into the Melbourne Collage Now show on March 20th. Once we have that sorted I'll be focused on a May 7th month-long solo show at the Pass~Port Gallery in Sydney.

Who are your favourite artists. Where do your draw inspiration from?
I am inspired by most artistic mediums and anyone who has dedicated time to creation. To leave at least one thing of beauty behind on this planet is a dream of mine.

To see more of Morgan’s work:

Morgan’s MCA artist profile here
Instagram: morgan_campbell
Hashtag: #déjàglu
Webstore: https://dejaglu.bigcartel.com/

Artist Profile: MORGAN CAMPBELL

To see more of Morgan’s work: