Five more minutes
When creating the collages I decided to look at the various conversations my boyfriend and I would have (and still do have) on a regular basis regarding simple things such as seeing each other or doing public activities.
I would describe myself as a fairly calm and collected person, but the thought and reality of intimacy in a relationship is something that does make me extremely anxious and uncomfortable; despite me feeling the exact way towards my partner. For these collages I wanted to use imagery and references which have both significance and more metaphorical links to these ideas. For example my boyfriend and I often buy flowers for each other, and visit a local flower shop in our town.
To me flowers are a mutual ground where I don’t have to say words, he just simply understands my gesture which eases the anxiety I usually face. On the other hand in one of the collages I used a still from “The Umbrellas of Cherbourg”, one of my favourite films of all time. I tend to spend a lot of my time watching older romance films alone, usually ending with myself feeling nostalgic yet lethargic about my own effort in my relationship.
Creating these collages was super insightful to my own mindset and my way of thinking and allowed me to demonstrate and document my feelings and behaviour down in a creative and productive way, without putting myself down.