"Explosion en Flèche" Collage

“Explosion en Flèche” (Fr: flèche = Arrow) is another 'Vauban' inspired artwork of collage using Canson ‘Mi-Teintes’ art papers pre-assembled into stripes of various colour combinations then cut into assorted angles, all of which were overlaid and interlocked on a pre-sponged sheet of Canson art paper. This piece was made in collaboration with the French artist Viviane Conte - who has also been my muse for several years - and is jointly signed by her. This is the 30th in my dedicated series based on the fortification designs of Vauban using painted or applied elements of carefully drawn angles are loosely based on the works of Maréchal Vauban, or Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban (1633-1707), who is considered one the of the greatest military engineers of all time. In his life he was responsible for the fortification of over 160 places in France… but his major contribution to warfare was his methods of attack, which revolutionised siege warfare. However, the shapes and angles of his defensive walls surrounding many French towns and seaports have influenced the design of my more recent artworks.