Wednesday, May 14, 2014

New Mexico Collagescape


New Mexico, 12”x24” mixed media on wood panel (detail image below)

If I am not at home in California, New Mexico is pretty much my favorite place to be.  As this series has been underway, I have known it would not be complete without a New Mexico collagescape.  I was having trouble deciding what colors I should use to depict the landscape.  in New Mexico the colors are often washed out, dull and dry, a condition exaggerated by years of drought.  It all still looks good when contrasted against the blue New Mexico sky.  Yet, you might notice there is only a hint of blue in this work.  As I have been cutting up smaller and smaller pieces of painted paper to make this series, I suddenly decided to take my inspiration from the stone and adobe walls of pueblos both contemporary and hundreds of years old.  All the time I have spent at places like El Morro National Monument and Chaco Canyon played a big role in this work.  Now to decide, are the hints of blue the glimpses of sky through a window in a wall or are they small pieces of turquoise…..

New Mexico will be shown in my Collagescape exhibit opening on July 29.

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