My Fantasy Collage
My collage of fantasy stories as inspired by the British Library's Fantasy: Realms of Imagination exhibition
James Pagen
2/25/20244 min read
A Trip to the Library
This is an art piece that was inspired by the British Library's Fantasy: Realms of Imagination exhibition which I went to with my parents in early 2024.
Seeing so many fantasy tales on display made me want to create a piece that captured all the stories that were exciting or had meant something to me personally. One work in particular inspired me and I've written more about that below. But how could I make it more... me?
Sure, I included some very mainstream characters from franchises like The Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones and Harry Potter, as well as big studios like Studio Ghibli. But how could I omit some of the stories I love the most, just because they are popular?
There's definitely an English weighting, with Alice and Wonderland, Jekyll and Hyde representing the classics. Can you spot the character from Peter Pan? And the ode to Narnia? I can't quite decide whether I included the Lady in the Lake more due to Arthurian mythology itself, or specifically BBC's Merlin, which was a family favourite in our house.
But I also included some books that were very specific to my childhood. The Wardstone Chronicles, with it's witch assassin and witch-hunter Spook, set in an other-worldly version of my home county of Lancashire. Angie Sage's Septimus Heap series, another story of seventh sons of seventh sons. Eragon's wild and spiritual magic. Skulduggery Pleasant with it's ready Irish humour. Books that shaped my love of fantasy more, even, that the titans of the genre.
As I film lover, I had to make sure my fantastical favourites were well represented. Your Name. standing out amongst the many anime films I've seen, with it's folklore and emotional depth. The uncertain fantasy of Harvey, effortlessly portrayed by good old Jimmy Stewart.
I wanted to give video games their due as well, with Hollow Knight making the list. Games can be a beautiful way to convey a fantasy story as the player is encouraged to immerse themselves in the world and leave our own behind. And I suppose that Poseidon could be from Supergiant Game's Hades and Hades II, which I've played a hefty chunk, or perhaps Percy Jackson, as well as the myths themselves.
The exhibit itself had so many cool things to see and lots of artwork from or about famous stories. There was a huge map of the Discworld - probably my favourite series of novels - and a few characters that would be at home on this Disc make an appearance in my collage. A Swedish illustrator had drawn a very different take on Gollum from the Hobbit, with this small, corrupted hobbit envisioned instead as a towering monster. And there was a nostalgia hit for me, as they had a game box for Dungeons and Dragons which is the same one we had at home when I was a kid.
Creating the Collage
The digital version you see above was actually a recreation I did of a physical drawing in pen. I did a couple of pencil sketches to plan out the composition of characters - you can't really "wing it" with this kind of collage - and then slowly built up in pencil and then in Biro. I actually prefer the paper version, in the end, as I feel the there's a lot more texture and shadows than in the final, flatter artwork. But I loved pulling this together and was glad I set myself this little goal.
My favourite parts are those where I was most able to overlap the stories into the same "scene", like the cold pool at the bottom bringing with it a host of different settings.
This piece is why I did my original drawing in pen and why I attempted to create a grey scale digital version. Although, I think applying grey scale as an after effect doesn't capture the beauty of the penmanship.
I loved setting myself this project and dedicating the time to it. From a wonderful experience at the British library, I was able to reflect on all the influences on my imagination, form them into a composition of my own and bring that to life. I grateful to all those involved in the exhibit and grateful that I even knew it was happening. It was just by chance that I saw a poster whilst travelling along the tube!
I'm glad that I was paying attention. Or rather, that I let my mind wander in the right ways.
Sveta Dorosheva
The original inspiration was the beautiful collage created by Sveta Dorosheva for the aforementioned exhibit. You can view her work, a breakdown of this project, and a short video about the making of the piece here, on her website.
The intense detail of Dorosheva's collage is almost overwhelming. A truly fantastical experience in its own right and one that a careless observer could become lost in.
I don't have the talent (or perhaps the bigger gap is the patience and commitment) to match the depth of this piece, but I wanted to try and capture that small "searching" element. A much more exciting Where's Wally, you can hunt for your favourite tales and try to catch all the hidden references.
How many were you able to find, without the key?
