Juxtaposition is a mysterious thing. The images become an unspoken language, and meaning lies within the relationships of the unrelated. I seek to tell stories about our collective past through the fragments left behind. Finding images is easy; the difficulty lies in putting them together in meaningful ways.
These images are created using public domain images downloaded from the Internet, printed on transparency, and then cut and taped together. Public Domain images were either created before 1929 and current copyright laws do not apply, created by government agencies with taxpayer funds, or they are new images being offered by a collective of people willing to waive their copyright. As a collagist I am fascinated by public domain images, as they are the only images that I can legally use without fear of a lawsuit, but the nature of their origins also attracts me. Historic images offer a glimpse of the past, and when cut and removed from their original settings appear contemporary.
Culling from historic photographs, illustrations, and maps allows me a space to contemplate the future and it’s relationship to the past. I’m drawn to the echo that lingers from whatever meanings and memories were previously associated to them, and to the mystery of these lost narratives. As an artist, I find this compelling.
Working with the element of chance and the randomness of the juxtapositions, I arrange and rearrange the pieces until something meaningful is created. The handmade negatives are then contacted printed on paper coated with cyanotype chemistry, and exposed to sunlight. The images are 5x7 inches, printed on a 7x9 inch area of cyanotype, and framed 11x14.