As a former literature teacher, I’m finding interesting similarities with lit and my photo collages. Authors say that their characters take on lives of their own. The author may have a plan for the characters, but they often go in different directions. When I do a collage, I have a plan – I know what photos I want to use, what kind of statement I want to make, but as I proceed, the process is much more fluid. I end up – frequently – with something completely different than I had imagined. Sometimes the images simply will not do what I want them to. I think that must be like an author’s character, who refuses to develop as the author expected.
The second similarity is that, as in literature, the meaning of art is in the eye of the beholder. That’s pretty obvious, but it’s not so obvious in literature. I always told my students that they could read good literature over and over because it would take on new meaning based upon their life experiences.
I’m putting in a collage that did not work out at all as I expected, but it is better for having taken its own direction.
Pigeons in the Snow - an Altered Landscape
It’s from the Altered Landscapes Series and the base image – the angel – is a photo I took in Caliente, a small town outside of Bakersfield, and the collage materials are from vintage fruit crate labels. What is the message? It’s in the eye of the beholder. What do you think?
