Bored Panda contacted Amy Corson to get more information about her work. First, we asked the artist to describe the creative process when making these cassette tape portraits. Amy shared with us: “I start by sketching an outline of the design onto the paper and then cutting each piece of tape to fit exactly where it needs to go and gluing it down. Once the general outline is completed, I add additional tape to give it a 3D-like effect. That’s when the design really starts coming to life.”
We wanted to know how Corson decides which musicians to portray, and what elements of their music or personalities she tries to capture in her artwork. She said: “Unless it’s a commission piece, I usually portray musicians that I like or that have inspired me. I generally listen to a lot of the person that I’m working on when making each portrait so I like to think that their music, message, and spirit somehow gets absorbed into each piece of tape that I glue down.”
Next, asked how her artistic style has evolved since she started working on this project, Amy answered: “It’s gotten a lot more detailed. I spend a lot more time in the design process now, trying to construct an image that captures the artist’s personality.”
The process of creating intricate portraits using cassette tapes seems time-consuming. We were curious if the artist could share any memorable experience or story from the time she was working on one of her most challenging pieces. Corson told us: “Creating these portraits out of cassette tape is a very time-consuming and meticulous process but it can also be very rewarding. I love a challenge. Tape isn’t always the easiest medium to work with. It takes a lot of time and patience. Glue also doesn’t stick to it very well so I’ve spent a lot of time testing different glues and tape until I found one I was happy with that also gave me the flexibility I needed.”
Lastly, we were wondering if there are any other unconventional materials Amy has experimented with in her artwork. We found out that: “Growing up, I made things out of whatever I could find around the house or in nature, making origami paper flowers and gluing them onto branches that I would then put into a vase. Things like that. I love the idea of creating something beautiful out of everyday objects. I think that’s why I keep coming back to the cassette portraits. Being able to use something that someone else may think is worthless and create something of value out of it is an incredible thing. I would love to explore new materials in the future. I’ve been toying around with the idea of creating portraits of actors or directors out of old movie stubs. I think that could be cool.”
