When I punch holes, I try to use the paper effectively punching in long lines. These strips of paper are the waste product of that process. As they accumulate in the trash bin, my mind started to see collage possibilities. One day I scooped a pile out of the trash and set to work on creating a composition. It is amazing to me how much can be created out of the materials that we deem as ‘garbage’. This is something that appeals to me about collage; collage is accessible to anyone using almost anything. Through these slide you have seen works created on plywood, canvas, paper, birch panel, photographs and mat-board. You have seen works created with magazines, maps, stamps, playing cards, pencil crayons, piano hammers, tissue paper, napkins and gift wrap. The nouns that you need for collage are all around us. The artistic ideas and thinking provide the verb that can change trash to treasure.
Tis, 2016 (8 x 8 inches) $50
At the end of the day, I am often left with a pile of little treasures leftover from my work. I squirrel them away in jars, muffin tins, bins and boxes. A nice little warm up for me is spread these pieces out, find the connections between the pieces and see what I can create. Our brains have to make sense of a constant barrage of bits and pieces. For me collage represents not just how we see but also how we think. I love examining what is in front of me and putting it together in a new way from a new perspective. By working daily, one idea leads to another for me. I need to be spontaneous and follow the leads. I might start out with an idea but am unable to find the images, or materials, to bring the idea to life. The concepts reside somewhere between myself and the environment. In the search for an image, something will present itself, perhaps not what I was looking for but it demands to be considered. I need to practice ‘nonattachment’ to any idea because it might be discarded or morph into something else as I work. I constantly have to juggle ‘the noun’ of the materials with ‘the verb’ of my thinking.
