Down the Rabbit Hole All Over Again

This collage is composed almost entirely of images from an Annie Liebovitz shoot for the December 2003 issue of American Vogue. Alice is played by the hauntingly childlike Natalia Vodianova and some of the world's top haute couture designers play the Mad Hatter, Cheshire Cat and the Queen of Hearts (I especially love Marc Jacobs playing a dazed and confused Caterpillar atop a giant mushroom):

Down the Rabbit Hole II, 20" diameter, (2009)

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Using the round canvas was an allusion to rabbit hole that beckons Alice into Wonderland. The circular shape lent a centrifugal force to the composition, with the vignettes composed along the edges. Alice's blue dress unites her image throughout the vignettes, and enforces the narrative aspect of the composition. I hope that you find it whimsical and fun!

Happy Birthday Captain Bruce

My Dad turned 65 this past Sunday, and my family went to Bermuda to celebrate. I didn't bring his actual present to the island, only a picture, but I wanted it to reflect his love of the ocean, and some of the aesthetics of Bermuda and, of course, Newport. The image itself is taken from a "How to Paint Seascapes" book that belonged to my grandfather 40 years ago, that we found hidden under cobwebs and decades of disuse in my grandmother's basement. I think that that family connection makes it an even more fitting present to celebrate Captain Bruce's birthday.

Darwin's Dinner Party

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Darwin's Dinner Party, 2009. (8"x8")

During the week I intern at Paul Kasmin Gallery in Chelsea, and they have introduced me a number of stellar artists, including my new favorite artist: Walton Ford. His paintings are so exquisitely beautiful, and demonstrate such skill and mastery, that they seem to come from a bygone century. I am absolutely obsessed with the large watercolors of parrots, lions, and monkeys which recall the look of an Audobon print. Luckily for me, Paul Kasmin represents Walton Ford, and has a pile of Walton Ford promotional day planners left over from his last show. I dismembered the day planner and combined three of Walton Ford's images into this collage.

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Oftentimes when I am people-watching I am amused by how ape-like humans truly are. At rush hour it really does look, and sound, like a bunch of monkeys are riding the subway. I was drawn to the Ford vignettes involving monkeys, especially where they are engaged in ostensibly "human" activities, because it was such an amusing play on that concept. The expressions on the monkey's faces are instantly legible, and eerily familiar.

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This wise ape with his glass of wine, peering around the edge of the canvas, is one of my favorite details of the piece.

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What should I call this?

One of the hardest parts of art-making, for me, is coming up with a good title. Sometimes, the theme or content makes it easy for me, e.g. Romeo & Juliet, but other times I have writer's block. With an abstract collage, like the one I just finished, I'm almost always at a loss. Therefore, I'm turning it over to you for suggestions. I just finished this new collage (its 12"x36" if the dimensions matter to you) and I need your creativity in coming up with a title!

"Panes" (2009) 12"x36".

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Works in Progress

WIP, or for the non-Orchesis readers out there, Works in Progress, is an opportunity for an artist to get feedback on incomplete work, and is an important part of any creative process. I'm currently working on two collages, one of which is further along than the other, and I'm ready for some input. I didn't get my whole studio set-up to take these pictures so they aren't as high quality as the pictures I usually post of finished work. But please take a look and tell me what you think:

This piece has a special relationship to the Romeo & Juliet collage, because both began from a Vogue magazine photo shoot by the (in)famous fashion photographer Annie Liebovitz. I've always loved the aesthetic of Vogue, and for a long time I've been haunted by images from an "Alice in Wonderland" inspired fashion spread from 2003, but I couldn't find the pictures anywhere. Now that I finally have the images, I'm thrilled to be working on a round canvas. My collages often have a centrifugal compositional force, which, combined with the round canvas in this collage, will play up the "down the rabbit hole" quality.

Unfortunately the quality of this image is sub-par, but as you can see this collage is nearly complete at this point. It is 12"x36", with images drawn mainly from Martha Stewart Living magazine's scenes of domestic bliss. The palette and mood of the piece are light, airy and uplifting, drawing a comparison to my Newport-inspired works.