 |
|
|
|
|
One of Janet Shapiro�s signature collages is called �Discarded Pieces�, which in the title, as in the work itself, speaks volumes given her approach, subject matter and content. Beginning with approach, which consists of tearing up scraps of cast off paper and reconstituting it into works of abstract art, the result ranges from the dynamic to the sublime. The materials mostly consist of opaque wrapping paper that occasionally includes printed patterns and, brightly colored transparent tissue paper. Discarded Pieces expresses a sort of jumbled together quality that suggests fallen chunks of urban architecture spontaneously rearranged into a pleasing pattern of forms. Or you might just as easily be looking at a microscopic view of the |
|
|
|
|
|
The Big If, 1994, Collage on Paper, 22 x 15 in |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Discarded Pieces, 1994, Collage on Paper, 14.75 x 11 in |
|
|
|
world. The point is that the subject matter is non-specific and widely open to a variety of interpretations. What really makes this possible is that each of these pieces is intuitively constructed and that intuition, wisely applied as it is, imbues this work with an authentic vitality. Viewed another way, it is virtually impossible to imagine any of these collages pre-planned or otherwise sketched out prior to their creation. |
|
|
|
As to content, there is a conscious decision to recycle paper or to mix it with paint on found pieces of wood. Devoid of context her materials are easily regarded as trash. But context is everything and in their reassembling the materials are transformed into a simultaneously personal |
|
|
|
Next Page |
|
|
