Imaginarium Collage

In my years of being a picture framer, there had been some paper toile from time to time, quite rare though, that came by the counter. I was intriged to explore this possibility, but I put it in the back of my head until early 2015. Usually changes come as life events change, making me feel differently. 'Imaginarium' was my first attempt to create in the style; it was another turning point as I moved back to figurative works. I needed a new approach from painting on glass. Having completed some ten similar works, I got tired and yearned for something new, I needed more dimension. Breaking a composition of pure lines into various pieces, I tried to split them into various levels. To change the quality of the blank mat boards, I used magazine paper to disguise the surface. The problem that arose was, with magazine pages, the shapes would get too textured with colours, therefore the groves on the shapes would be lost. The paper quality is strong enough for me tomake the indented embossing. Nevertheless, I tried with a page I got from American Art. These are old issues the library gives away every now and then. In the first trial, I used three different pages from three different paintings. The tones did not work at all as the patches of the same colour are limited. I needed more to cover 2-3 shapes in order to balance the whole. I also thought about using fabric as texture, but it came about as too man-made and the pattern does not allow me to show the indented lines very well. I did, however, used adhesive films, both black and white areas now. These were leftovers from the days when I taught the elderly residents at the Genreal Hospital art in their ward. Their age varies from 50 to 90, restricted in movement due to strokes and old age. It was not easy yo devise art projects for them but the exhibition shown. My son came along and commented me doing craft instead of art. My response was Henri Mattisse did papercuts towards the end of his life. It is up to the artist to make Fine Art out of craft. From the exploration of applying design in to art from 2012 (Broken Reflections, When Lanscapes meet), the three black strokes simply have to be there. So are the lithium batteries in their strategic locations. These batteries are empty and were sitting there awaiting for recycle. Improvisation is so much fun and satisfying!