New Work: Whatever!

Whatever!
collage
approx size 15" x 18"

This piece is hard to photograph-all three colors are difficult by themselves and in combination, forget about it!

At this point it is safe to assume that these collages are fairly accidental. I haven't been setting out with a specific subject in mind. The last one didn't even have a subject! Meaning seems to unfold as I add shapes. One shape suggests another shape and pretty soon I have some sort of a little story going. The little story is often related to something that has happened recently or something that I had stored away in my data bank of a brain (such as it is these days). The results are often unexpected.

What is behind this piece? My husband says it is just random stuff from my mind and he is almost correct! Different things occur to me as I work over a period of several days. Many times these disjointed thoughts begin to come together and to suggest a larger whole. The story for this piece began with the kitchen junk drawer and was prompted by those "XYZ" letters. That drawer is often a catchall for miscellaneous items. The idea of miscellaneous items lead me to people's speech patterns. Conversations are often peppered with "filler" words which are a kind of shortcut used when people can't quite put their mental finger on what it is they want to say. And lastly, I happened to hear a Madonna song as I was driving. Something about a heart and a lock and a key. Everything sort of coalesced into this idea of unlocking things that appear to be a puzzle (such as the meaning of people's sentences sometimes). It's just random but hopefully the design itself is cohesive enough and people can ascribe their own meaning. Oh, and the secondary color scheme was selected for one reason in the beginning but came to mean something else to me. My impression is that people speak on several levels. There is the primary thing they are saying but then there is the idea of what is just underneath their words. The secondary meaning, if you will and hence my own significance of those secondary colors. Crazy but true.

The last thing to mention is that this is an experimental piece. I sanded paper and paint, over painted those letters, re sanded and added more pieces until I felt things were balanced. It's a mix of clean and rough areas which I am not sure about. The whole thing, including the colors, tests my tolerance level. Damn thing is growing on me though so it's hard to say. I don't feel like a "mixed media", let-it-fly kind of person. I am not "gritty" but I really needed to branch off from these clean shapes that can't be touched once they are down. It's a fine way of working but I know that I can add to that. I just need to be careful about what direction I head in. So, we will see.

Hope everyone is having a good weekend. Thanks for reading and commenting.
Libby

PS-I am in love! And it isn't my husband this time! If I wasn't married I'd hop on a plane to go see this guy. His work delights me (which is a phrase I almost never use) and I would like to crack open his mind to see what makes him tick. Take a look at his work and you will see why I am a smitten kitten!