“Ah-ha” Collage Favorites
gallery | 23 images — spontaneous sayings on the nature of reality
These collages are viewer-chosen favorites from a series of about 80 pieces I made in 1998-99 and exhibited in 2000 at the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology (now Sofia University) in Palo Alto, CA. Read my artist statement and other notes below.
About These Collages
I have experienced every collage in this exhibit as a message to myself. Making each of them was like unfolding a mystery or assembling a pile of multiple jigsaw puzzles’ pieces without knowing what the final pictures were supposed to be. None were planned.
When I start a collage first thing I do is gather the pieces—by looking through magazines and cutting out words and images that spark my hearts interest. Next, I look at the images I've chosen and see how they fit together. Then I work with the words until a caption emerges to reveal the meaning of the images.
The final product always comes as a surprise to me, and brings with it a fresh insight. Indeed, the mystery has not been solved until that moment of “Ah ha!” (or “Ha ha!” or simply “Ahhh”). Some of these collages came together quickly while others went through a number of transformations before the final stamp of internal satisfaction.
Many of these collages contain statements that can be immediately interpreted in some way (as true, or inspirational, or funny; or not true, etc.). Others are more cryptic*. In either case, I believe they have their greatest value as food for thought, or pieces to consider over time with an open mind and heart. May they serve as mirrors of the unfolding mystery within you.
~ Maja Apolonia Rodé, 2000
*the particularly cryptic collages did not make it into this “favorites” collection.
Reflections May 31, 2021:
Looking back on these collages more than 20 years later, emergent is the word I would use to describe the creative process from which they… well… emerged. But “emergent” as a word wasn’t in the foreground back then. It’s worth noting that 1998 was long before internet memes or the popularization of fun sentiments arranged with cut-out words. Not only did each collage form through an emergent process, so did the method of creating them evolve over a period of a year or more before this particular series started coming through.
In preparing this post, I’m realizing this was long before the “like” function of social media. Even that phenomenon was pre-sent in how I gathered data from exhibit attendees and came up with a favorites list (top 20 or so out of 100+ collages). I chose, however, not to arrange the collages by “number of likes.” Instead they are arranged here roughly through a storyline —from “the dream of a search” to “the end of a game.”
It has been interesting to see the emergence of similar types of word cut-outs over the years. Wonderfully clever and creative, the similarity is in their design treatment, not the method of arranging words without a preconceived idea. I think most people don’t have the patience or the odd inspiration to spend sometimes hours piecing together a limited set of words without knowing what they’re trying to say, yet still determined to reach that “the ring of truth.” The potential reward of this unpremeditated way is a fresh insight and fresh way of expressing something that is beyond words. That particular quality of freshness just isn’t possible when we rely solely on our familiar world, familiar word combinations, other people’s ideas, or our own ways of thinking — as refined and open as they may be.
This is the power of an oracle — whether or not we believe its messages are divinely given, the oracle get us thinking outside the box of our minds. And that itself is its own kind of magic. In this way, I see this collage method as part of the lineage that led up to Divine Dice — my “inner wisdom oracle” that emerged during the 2020 pandemic lockdown. More on that soon!
Reflections from the Field
“These collages are so deep, each one of them needs a week each to ponder! I love the playful pun of the Kodo drummer, that made me smile!”
“Oh my! These are a wonderful feast for heart mind & eye 😊 I adore the All of time one with the ammonite. I’m going to meditate on that!”
"These are seriously helpful.”
"‘What's been happening since you felt the Big Bang’" I love this. And "all of time just circles the heart of now". So powerful. I noticed deep spaciousness arising for me in the brief moments I shared with your images. Thank you. I am also deeply appreciative of your ways...and what you are pointing to, and inviting us in...”
“Seriously though... fun is no joke man... :-D”
“I adore these, they are playful poetic inquiries and hints at what makes a meaningful life. They shift perspective and place ourselves in the middle (or at least with a lovely view) of the great mystery and ask us to connect with the transcendent now and always. They make me want to create more of them. They feel therapeutic and fun. My father worked with collage a lot, so these have a home feel to them as well.”
❤ 2020 | Maja Apolonia Rodé
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1MBC-004
275 words | 3 min. audio — on the call of your creative flow
This is the end of believing
that anyone else’s way is your way.
This is you getting out of the rut
of someone else’s river and returning to
your humble stream of becoming.