Mixed Media

BIG CLIPS AND BUMP STOCKS

BIG CLIPS AND BUMP STOCKS, a paper collage, is a follow up to SANDY HOOK: HOPES, FEARS AND THE NRA and was started after the Las Vegas shootings. Both pieces use the same materials (recycled paper and light cardboard) and tools (scissors, and a paper punch), recognizing that virtually nothing changed between the two events except the scale of the massacre which is reflected by the larger size of BIG CLIPS AND BUMP STOCKS. While I would prefer to stop with BIG CLIPS AND BUMP STOCKS, in reality, I expect this to be an ongoing series. Matted and framed to 18” x 24”.

CREATION: BREATH OF GOD

I have always been interested in how various cultures, including my own, seek to explain creation and our existence. For example, the phrase “breath of God” appears 58 times in the Bible, Old and New Testament, always in the context of creation. My CREATION: THE BREATH OF GOD, a paper collage using recycled heavy paper and light cardboard, draws upon one of these references, Psalm 33, line 6 : “by the breath of his mouth all their host” for its particular inspiration. Matted and framed to 16” x 20”.

SANDS OF TIME – PORTRAIT OF A MENTOR

SANDS OF TIME – PORTRAIT OF A MENTOR is a mixed media sculptural piece combining a hand-built, raku-fired ceramic head with a glass tile base. This piece, for me, evokes the image of an artifact emerging from the sands outside Luxor. The rest of the title comes from my mentor (and friend) Carol Stirton-Broad, who happened to wear an outfit on the day I was finalizing the design that reflected the pattern, the color and the tone of the tiles I was planning to use for the base. 18″x5.5″x7.5″,

JUDGEMENT

I don’t regard JUDGEMENT as one of my more subtle, abstract, or obscure pieces. The message is pretty straight forward with the only questions being: who or what is standing in judgement and what will be the result? I expect the answers to vary from person to person. Hand built and raku fired paper clay with a found object and bamboo resting on an MDF base.

NIGHT WATCH

NIGHT WATCH, a mixed media sculpture and off-shoot of the “Hooded Figure” series, pulls back the hood and adds a helmet, a shield, chain mail, and a torch, thereby moving away from the abstract form of the original pieces in the series to a more detailed and representational expression. Hand built and raku fired paper clay with steel wire, forsythia and Epoxy Sculpt on gneiss and set on an MDF base plate. 7 ½” x 8 ¾” x 3”

SANTA MUERTE #5

SANTA MUERTE #5, the fifth, and probably last, piece in the Santa Muerte: Patron Saint of Wall Builders series is my comment on the perceived relation of a religious cult in Mexico to the idea of building a “great” wall on the border. Hand built of paper clay, glazed and fired to Cone 05, w/colored resin, lacquer, and a plastic vulture (it seemed appropriate) added.

COLLABORATING WITH POLISTES

COLLABORATING WITH POLISTES is all about integrating different forms of paper into a sculptural piece. The top portion is a paper wasp nest (genus Polistes) which I found in a Koosa Dogwood tree when the leaves came down last October. The wasps made the paper by mixing plant material and saliva. The base portion is hand built and Raku fired paper clay. I made the paper clay by mixing rehydrated scrap clay and recycled newspapers. Both the wasps and I shaped our portions to meet our particular needs. No wasps were harmed in the making of COLLABORATING WITH POLISTES. 30” x 18” x 10”

ERUPTION (AT THE HOT GLASS SHOW)

I am very pleased to announce that juror Nancy Weisser, invited my stained glass/ceramic piece, ERUPTION, into the Allegany Arts Council’s HOT GLASS EXHIBITION & COMPETITION. ERUPTION will be on view at their Saville Gallery, 9 N. Centre St, Cumberland, MD from August 12^th until September 2^nd 2017. Cumberland MD is a delightful town and the Show reception on Saturday, August 19^th was a lot of fun. In addition to juror Nancy Weisser, I had the chance to meet and talk with a number of very talented “hot glass” artists from around the country. After seeing the show I was even happier to be a part of it.

ON SUBWAY WALLS

Like …AND TENEMENT HALLS, ON SUBWAY WALLS is a colored paper collage which draws from the Simon and Garfunkel song The Sounds of Silence. While the materials and palette in both pieces are essentially the same (heavy paper/ thin cardboard – cut from advertising and packaging materials), changing the background from white to black and eliminating internal “negative space” darkens the tone and sets the piece underground. In the song, the phrase “on the subway walls” precedes “and tenement halls”, but for me, in doing the collages, the initial working image was of a cityscape and the subway developed as a companion piece. Matted and framed to 12” x 16”.

…AND TENEMENT HALLS

The title for my colored paper collage, …AND TENEMENT HALLS, comes from part of an iconic line in the Simon and Garfunkel song The Sounds of Silence; although my choice of palette is probably a more colorful and upbeat presentation than an accurate one. There is little point in having artistic license if you can’t abuse it now and then. Matted and framed to 12” x 16”.

John Fansmith

Artist