Alchemic Metamorphosis - 48x36-male-figure-figurative-butterfly-butterflies-gold-copper-silver-leaf Collage

This piece was created from a self-portrait. The collage consists of paper ephemera such as handwritten letters and envelopes. There is acrylic paint and drawing over the paper collage and the portrait was photo transferred on top. Each of the butterflies has gold, silver or copper leaf. The piece is coated with epoxy resin and finished with a matte varnish for a look similar to encaustic wax. The desire to understand myself more as a creative person has yielded a body of work that represents a precarious artistic and emotional journey into an uncharted chapter of my life. These challenges and insights are expressed through a combination of self-portraits, paper ephemera collage, and familiar universal symbols intended to present the viewer with a multi-dimensional and expansive view of my personal mythology. The basis of my mixed media collages are blue prints, road maps, bus tickets, letters of correspondence and various other items of paper ephemera which invoke the nostalgia of a Midwestern upbringing and the roots of my artistic cultivation. Inspiration is derived from the inherent meaning in these documents as well as the images they are paired with. These vintage sales slips, receipts, invoices, etc. serve as a reminder of the importance of paper as a record of human history, but also the fleetingness of a life reduced to ephemeral moments.