i began this collage 2 days ago on tuesday, 4/1/14. it began as a loose interpretation of huang tingjian's calligraphic marks. then i let it sit for 48 hours to ripen, like the raw coffee beans i roast every morning.
today i made a couple of preliminary sketches, both intended to be literally cut to ribbons and "randomly" inserted onto the collage. i say randomly because i've developed a way of deflecting my mind from focusing on the composition as a whole, deliberately keeping the piece horizontal on the work table and holding off on putting it up on the easel.
maps have once again entered the pictorial space. one is of the cycladic island of andros. i chose a small village named stivari (pronounced stEEvari) displayed on this section of the map. once again, it's a random choice. i could easily have chosen a place i know well, like the port of gavrio. but stivari spoke loudly to me and said ME, ME PICK ME!
this one may not be complete. as usual, i'll know when i walk in tomorrow morning. right now, i must say, i love looking at it. it's more playful than some of the others, and very suggestive of human body parts, animals...biomorphic forms. some as might be seen through a microscope. others a telescope.
