Call for Issue 17: Summer 2026
Curated by Craig Auge

Deadline for submissions: April 1, 2026 Extended deadline: April 15, 2026

Razzle Dazzle

Razzle Dazzle invites artists to explore pattern in all its contradictions—as pure surface design or containing deeper symbolism, as strategy or accessory, as structure or shimmer. Patterns can protect and reveal, soothe and unsettle, clarify and confuse. Pattern may emerge from the smallest gesture or mark which then gathers meaning through repetition, a gentle rhythm that steadies, or builds until it becomes vibration, distortion, blur.

Inspired in part by the disorienting, fractured geometries of dazzle camouflage and the playful persistence of the polka dot in its endless variations, this call reflects on how scale and proximity transform what we see. A single form becomes a field, simplicity folds into complexity, perception wavers between order and overwhelm.

Investigate pattern as lexicon, meditation, or mask. What comfort and meaning may be discovered within multiplicity and visual cadence?

Consider:

  • Pattern emerging from repetition of minimalist forms; rhythm; echo

  • Maximalist, all-over approach to pattern; atmospheric pattern; noise

  • Decorative patterns; natural, conceptual, cultural, or emotional patterns

  • Spiritual or cosmic patterns

  • Pattern as code or shorthand; diagrammatic strategies

  • The hypnotic potential of pattern, how it can distract or define

  • Combining multiple patterns; mining from previous Cut Me Up issues and elsewhere

– Craig Auge, Artist & Curator

All eligible submissions must:

  • Respond to and incorporate some portion of Cut Me Up Issue 16: Ritual & Collage.

Issue 17 Curator Craig Deppen Auge:

Craig Auge is a multidisciplinary artist and curator whose art toggles abstract collage and ephemeral salvage assemblage. Works are improvisational, intuitive, and responsive, emphasizing process over product, regenerating materials and entire artworks. He has exhibited throughout the U.S. and been featured in many publications including Cut Me Up, The Hand Magazine, and New American Paintings.

Auge has independently curated and organized artists since the late 1990s. He has worked professionally supporting artists with disabilities, developing exhibition programming at public libraries, co-directing artist-run nonprofits, and operating a roaming and online curatorial project called Lodger. He is based in Kansas City, Missouri.

Instagram: @craigdeppenauge
Web: craigdeppenauge.com


Cut Me Up Issue 17: Razzle Dazzle was published on July 1, 2026.