About Stepdad
Stepdad Collages came to life in 2017, in a haze of Connie Francis tunes and stacks of old Sunset magazines I’d been collecting for nearly a decade.
Each piece is made entirely by hand from my vintage print collection, which spans hundreds of books and magazines from the 1940’s through the 1970’s. There is no digital sourcing, resizing, or editing.
Every Stepdad Collage is one of a kind, constructed with intention—reframing nostalgia to explore domesticity, gender roles, desire, discrimination, and discomfort through a contemporary lens. The glossy ideals of the past cut, rearranged, and confronted.
Disclaimer: Stepdad Collages is often NSFW and contains nudity, adult themes, suggestive language, and the occasional pile of rhinestoned drugs. Viewer discretion is advised.
Marissa A. Ross is a writer, visual artist and author.
Ross was born & bred in Southern California and spent her weekends in Palm Springs surrounded by Alexander Homes and old ladies who wore Emilio Pucci like it was SPF 50. She was raised in a traditional, sexist household and grew up on a healthy diet of vintage Disney, classic Sinatra and The Godfather, and was taught to strive for wealth, unobtainable beauty and interior perfection.
She is most widely known for her work as the former wine editor of Bon Appétit and her book, Wine. All The Time., although her background is in comedy writing and performing (long story). She is also widely known for yelling at Los Angeles Clippers games.
She still writes about wine and publishes personal essays on her Substack, The Ross Report.
Ross currently lives in Los Angeles with her Pomeranian, Groucho Barx, and is probably listening to either Eartha Kitt or Kendrick Lamar. She loves sparkling water, exotica, and collecting historical pieces of art—like her prized original tombstone from Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion. She aspires to one day live like a Slim Aarons portrait subject, or at least have a conversation pit.