Hidden Collagescape

Hidden Landscape, 12”x24” mixed media on wood panel

The Collagescape series could be described as a culmination of years of my previous work.  It’s where my landscape painting and my collage work meet.  As I have been working on the series, I have been conscious of wanting to include some previous themes my work has focused on.  For example, there is a map-specific piece included in the series.  I also wanted to have a text rich piece in the series.  The results are shown above.  And keeping with the landscape theme, look carefully, you will find hidden words related to geography, geology and landscapes in general. 

There was also another influence on this particular piece.  Recently, I was surfing through art blogs and I discovered Alighiero Boetti.  I had seen a few images of his woven maps previously, but I really had not looked closely.  When I saw some text-oriented pieces, it got me looking closer.  My reaction was, “Why don’t I know this artist’s work already?”   I’m getting caught up.  As this piece was drying, I was at the library picking up a few books I borrowed via interlibrary loan.  Wow! Alighiero Boetti has joined the list of some of my favorite artists.

Hidden Landscape will be included in my Collagescape exhibit, July 29 through September 28, 2014.

The Geo Graphic Mail Project

A few months ago a friend gave me a pile of postcards and postcards books picked up at various art museums over the years.  Many of the paintings on the postcards were nudes, from Mel Ramos, to Picasso to Hopper as well as some vintage erotic images.  It all lead to a silly idea.  I thought I would “censor” the images with bits of maps.  The idea was to create a series of geo graphic mail or was it geographic mail?  This week I mailed out the 50 postcards to various friends and artists.  Be warned, they might shock your postal carrier.  A few more can be seen in the Mail Art section at tofuart.com.