In many artistic endeavors dissolution precedes creation and this is exemplified in the type of collages that I create. My process consists of cutting out colorful shapes from discarded magazines and reassembling them into an abstract design... from deconstruction to reconstruction. This process of trans~formation is what motivates my art. Creating something of value from discarded materials gives me joy. When I first began arranging these random paper elements, I found my eye drawn particularly to the vividness of colors produced by modern print media. Beyond the shapes, textures and patterns of the images I work with, I found that it was the color compositions that triggered the most evocative emotional reactions in my viewers. For this reason I call my style of collage art: “Collorage”
Born in Belgrade, Serbia of the former Yugoslavia, Militza was raised in a family producing three generations of artists. Forced to flee her homeland as a young girl after the Second World War, she and her surviving family traveled through France, Spain and Cuba before immigrating and settling in the United States. During her travels she was fortunate to visit many of the world’s great art museums such as the Louvre and Prado which further inspired her to choose art as her career.
She attended the University of Wisconsin and Wayne State University in Detroit, where she earned her Bachelor of Arts and teaching certificate. Settling with her family in Marquette, Michigan she taught art for 32 years in the public school system at both elementary and high school levels. Later she earned a Master’s degree in Psychology at Northern Michigan University, studying art as therapy and the evocative power of color upon the human psyche. She received an Outstanding Art Educator Award in recognition of her contributions advancing the cause of art education in the Marquette community.
In addition to teaching, Militza has worked in many media including painting, pottery and sculpture. She was one of the very first exhibiters at Marquette's annual 'Art On The Rocks' festival and exhibits regularly at local galleries. Now retired, she has focused her creativity on abstract collage art through the medium of what she calls “paper, paste and imagination.”
