Each piece has a unique character which embodies their histories, which can include folds, tears, discolouration, deterioration and disintegration.
These characteristics fascinate, surprise and frustrate me as I seek to blend them to arrive at the finished pieces displayed. The medium is gritty and the décollage process is abrasive.
It is fitting that most are presented in vintage and antique frames that also have age-worn qualities; scratches, chips and lost mouldings combine to compliment the works they contain.
The structural difference in the papers cause them to behave differently when I work with them, some bending to my will, others decline and take the lead, sometimes changing the course of the creative process.
Décollage lays paper on paper, the tears excavating background imagery to bring it to the foreground. Tears act as wild brush strokes, discarded remnants are returned to provide some composure where it's needed.
Beneath the observable surface is a graveyard of past iterations, mistakes and annoyances, each contributing to the final cut. The collage works showcase antique papers more calmly, through a more serene creative process that affords more time, a more controlled, considered and predictable experience.
I have selected vintage frames that have aged more gently for the collages, reflecting the relative subtlety of the work. Applying a 'paper tile' can feel like laying down gouache with a pallet knife, some are like thinly applied watercolours.
Some of the work here combines both décollage and collage methods, juxtaposing the styles with a dash of the former, to balance harmoniously with the latter.
