Breaking the Still Surface Collage

This piece was inspired by an original photo of a man jumping into water. The handwritten text on the back read, 'Sept. 1, 43 Under water shot Silver Springs Fla' and was stamped with 602. I scanned the text and digitally added it to the image. I then applied the pixels with acrylic paint and finished it with a coat of resin and matte varnish. 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. Many of the figures incorporated into the artwork are taken from my extensive collection of one-of-a-kind antique daguerreotypes and mid-century snapshots. Each photograph in the acquisition is chosen because of its ability to simultaneously mirror intimate and universal facets of the human experience. The ambiguous figures often have a familiarity and represent archetypical image of masculinity and the Everyman. For this reason they are dealt with as a kind of self-portrait. Appropriation of these ‘forgotten’ photographs is an essential part of my art making process. Repurposing the images with new content not only builds upon the original history of the photographs, but creates a transcendence of time and a revitalization of the past. I have often expressed that I may not necessarily be the photographer of these relics, but through my artistic interpretation I feel I am their curator.