Francisca Pageo is a Spanish artist devoted to cut and paste. Not that kind of boring and unimaginative ‘cut and paste’ one could make when in front of a screen, but the real one, which involves using scissors and glue in order to create collages from and for a better world. Also known as Misspaq, Francisca plays with her curiosity, intuition, passion and photography knowledge so as to produce good vibrations on the viewer, as well as composing inspiring colourful images.
Her love for literature is reflected on her last exhibition where we can see her redesigned covers of famous books. Self-defined as a utopian, she doesn’t deny her collages could be someday used on stage.
Francisca, do you think being curious and autodidact could be your motto as an artist?
Yes, I do! Curiosity and artistic self-processing is my main goal while creating. I consider these things important because they bring passion into my creative life as well as into my personal life. I am someone who’s keen on constantly improving.
To many people, the assemblage of a collage is seen as a hotchpotch that will only make sense in the last step of the process. Why did you choose collage as your way of expression (besides photography)?
Collage is a composition method used to reunify different elements to create a new one, and that is something I love: using existent things to come up with new ones. Collage is my favorite technique because it helps me find calmness and peace while I'm working and I get to feel all these emotions... Taking photos is different, it’s as if something’s missing. Collage, definitely, gives me a greater satisfaction.
Fantasy, emotion, imagination or dream world, are terms often and easily related to your collage works. Is this a connection you actually look for before you start working?
Yes, it is. I enjoy working with these terms because I consider myself a true dreamer. I live in a dream world but I can also see the fatalism going on real life. Using these terms I can reflect the magic I live with on my day to day. I think it's important for artists to show their emotions through their artwork so they can connect with other people.
The reinvention of book covers is the topic of your most recent exhibition, which can be visited these days in Spain. What can we find there?
You can find the illustrations of some of the books I've read and I've been influenced by. They are not my favorite ones but, for some reason, they caught my attention and I thought it would be great to show covers of my own. Besides, I’m a book lover and I think it's important they have proper editions. In other words, I love a book not only because of its contents but also for its cover. Being this the first thing you see in a bookstore or library, I think it should be made beautiful and attractive to the reader.
Francisca, in your Twitter account you define yourself as a utopian. Is this one of the reasons you stopped being a spectator to become a creator of new images?
Yes, obviously it is! I've been a utopian since I was child. I've always dreamed of a happier and more beautiful world with people who think about their lives and how they grow up... By creating new imagery I can build-up my own world. People often tell me they feel more calmed and relaxed after having seen my artwork, and that’s already a change on our stressful lives. So yes, I'm a utopian and it makes me glad if I can help improve our present reality.
Among your techniques there are scissors and glue as well as retouching programs. Between analogue and digital methods, which do you consider to be more relevant to your work?
I think the analogue method is more relevant to my work. All my digital pieces have a previous analogue manipulation to them and, without it, they wouldn't be what they are. Also, I love working with my hands and holding the scissors and staining my fingers with glue.
Your projects have already been printed on paper, passed onto video footage and have even been used as textile designs. What other formats would you like to experiment with (in the short and long term)?
In short term, I'd like to keep experimenting with video and animation so as to improve my skills within this area. In long term, I'd love to make a theatrical set. To cut/fold/paste giant cardboards and make new worlds on stage.
We were saying books are the thread of your last exhibit, but on each of your artworks we can appreciate other subjects such as nature, fashion or cinema. Do you think this sort of topics might help attract more people towards the world of art?
Yes and no. Some people might get interested in these things, but not necessarily. There are people who are attracted to art because they can find their emotions and feelings in the artwork, but also, because they can see beauty in it. Beauty is in nature, fashion and cinema, but it’s also present in our daily and interior life.
Can you reveal anything about what's coming next?
I'm currently working on my first music video for Nühn music, which I’m willing to show as soon I can. I’m also working on some land artworks related to “objects” in nature, such as branches, flowers, trees... And finally, I’m also preparing some new small collage animations.
