Mounting Collage

Methods of Securing Objects in a Collage

Archival Materials Protect Your Art for Posterity

Some tips on selecting acid-free materials.

Hello!

This is an excellent website. I'm wondering if you can answer a few questions for me.

I am making collages and would like to mount them and coat them in epoxy resin.

Can you recommend the most appropriate supports and archival quality product to use?

I am thinking of building a support for a door skin surface (because it is the lightest). Would a light surface such as door skin be appropriate for epoxy or should it be a heavier surface like MDF?

Thank-you!!

Sarah

Thank you for the compliment! I think my head is swelling ;-)

By door skin, I assume you mean the wood veneers used in building construction. Both door skin and MDF are made of wood and therefore are quite acidic. Read my answer to a similar question here.

In your case, none of the base material will show, so the easiest way to seal the acidic wood away from the collage is with a priming material such as is used to seal canvas and protect it from acidic (oil) paint.

The traditional choice is rabbit skin glue but this needs to be mixed and heated.

A more modern choice is gesso - premixed, easy to apply and available in bright white as well as clear. Clear is nice if you like to sketch out your design on the canvas first.

If you are using Mod Podge for your collage, it has a similar formula to gesso (PVA) and could be used as a primer. Use at least two coats and be sure to prime the side edges of your board as well.

Heavier collage ephemera would require stronger glues. Make sure these are non-acidic as well, like US Quest Artist Cement.

Read a bit about the chemistry of using primer to protect your art from acid damage here.

Wood veneer (which is lighter weight and thinner than MDF) would be easier to support and hang. If your collage does not contain a lot of heavy elements and your epoxy coat will not be super-thick, wood veneer will do fine.

Finally, if your collage elements are not too heavy, you could skip all of the above and affix your collage to Fredrix Archival Canvas Board.

You could save lots of prep time and probably even some money.