We were lucky to catch up with Katy Hirschfeld Leinoff recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Katy, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.
I was abroad in Israel and it was the last night. We went to a concert and a band was playing called the Idan Raichel project and I became completely obsessed with him and that band and everything surrounding that music. The trip was so special and ending it while seeing Idan perform made it that much more meaningful. When I got back to the US I started following him on social media and I saw on his account they were doing a photography contest so I kind of made my own rules and instead of doing photography, I made a collage of him. This is probably back in 2011 and here I am in America he has no idea who I am or how obsessed I am with him, and for some reason I was one of the people who won the contest And I remember I got a free record they sent to me and they announced it on Instagram with my name and everything (I can include a picture). It was just incredible that i won this! so since then, every album that’s come out, every YouTube he’s played, every concert that’s public, I’ve tuned into and just remain to be so inspired by him so one day probably 10 years later, my art brought me to back Israel and For some reason in the same week that I booked my flight, somebody from his team reached out to me on instagram and asked if I would be open to making some art for his singles coming up and this is one of those things that makes me believe in fate… so I said I am located in America unfortunately however I will be going to Israel in August so fast forward to a August, I reach back out to the manager. I said I am coming in next week and she said great. Here’s his number you will meet him at this location on this date and ended up being at my favorite beach from when I went abroad in Israel.
Meeting him there, so many years later was such a beautiful Magic moment. It was so fun to meet him and he told me his idea was, instead of using magazine clippings and things like that, he wanted me to actually go into his childhood home and his recording studio and take pictures of all things that were part of his life since childhood, and the making of his band and career and every little thing. Luckily, I had my camera on me since I was traveling Israel, and the next day I took a taxi to Idan Raichel‘s childhood home where I photographed everything about him and the making of his music – all his instruments guitar picks, his CD and record collection, paintings he made when he was a child, really incredible intimate intimate stuff, and then uploaded all the photos and got them all printed out and made several collages using not only my technique, but also my very own photographs, and it was such a full circle project and and such a surreal story that I still every day I have to remind myself is the true story and it’s some thing I will always think about and always be so grateful for. And then, this morning i dropped my daughter off at school and when i opened the door they were playing his music, I got chills and even though she’s only 1.5. i told her, mommy has a cool story about this music i cant wait to you her” before she walked off with her teacher :) Before this moment this morning i was struggling with an answer to this question and lo and behold the universe came full circle with this project yet again.
its also crazy to see how my art and style has evolved when looking at the first collage of him and the ones i did recently.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I have been collaging since i was 5 years old, it is a real compulsion for me to create. I have worked with many brands and celebrities, restaurants and hotels, and collectors. I went from bringing my art in garbage bags to flea markets and shows, to being in galleries all around the world. I offer collages, custom collages, and prints. Ive collaged surfboards, guitars and suitcases, the beauty of collage is i can do it anywhere and on anything. I am most proud that i was able to take my love of collage from a hobby to a lifestyle and carreer.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
I think the fact that when i work with people and companies I act like we are working together and include them on the journey and process. I also love to collage so much that i believe it shows through either on social media or on email exchnges with everyone and everything pertaining to it. This makes it seem fun, one of the best and most accurate words to describe collage in the first place :)
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
I think I had to unlearn that my life wasnt going to follow any ordinary plan. I had to get humble in order to start from scratch and do this from the ground up. Just because i went to collage or knew people didnt mean i was going to get where i wanted to go, I had to sweat, cold call, stay very persistent, and do lug around lots of art to lots of different places. If a gallery told me no, I tried again a few months later with new pieces, I never once got something easily in this career, something that i really truly believe led me here is the fact that you need to either remain humble, or get humble because this doesnt just fall into ones lap. blood, sweat, and humility.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.collage-garage.com
- Instagram: @katyilana
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/collagegarage
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHaXwXf-LvQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75GW4XJYLUA
Image Credits
Chie Dambara