How to create big art in a small space? My home studio is in my living room. I have one 6’ table and the storage space under that, plus a small bookcase. Paints, brushes, collage materials, gelli plates and other tools crammed in.
Small space. Big dreams.
Last month I decided to make an artist’s book about migration. Dual challenge: work large, be serious. All in a small space and short time.
The answer: collage as if sewing. Attach small together to make big. Working vertically, I created a long piece by continually attaching to the bottom. The work evolved on its own. (Thank you, Jane Davies).
I started with blues, for sky and ocean, for the water that migrants cross and for the sky the birds and butterflies move through. The blue of dreams and distance.
As I worked, the colors moved into greens with flashes of warm, and circles for suns. Towards the bottom, the silhouette of a girl. This side is the dream: pastures of promise, with a blue sky overhead.
The other side is black and white: torn letters, text, newspaper articles, and, repeatedly, a question from USCIS webpage: “Who is eligible?”
You can see “Migration” through August at the Loading Dock Gallery in Lowell.