Robert Raczka

Gardens, 2014

"found" pictures project, 2014, dimensions variable (approximately 8" x 12")

Photographs of gardens are inadequate to capture the fragmented, cumulative experience of moving through a garden or even looking around in one. I felt that these collages made of 2 layers--the bottom layer is visible through the cut out sections of the top layer--could capture something closer to the experience of nature which I often feel resembles a Hall of Mirrors in terms of its patterning and visual complexity.

I've also long been interested in the idea of yielding control while making something, which is an idea that I associate with John Cage in particular. These are "blind" collages made by taking the top page, folding it over on itself, and cutting it while I can't see the image. The result is symmetrical, like much of nature, and the layers are tacked together, not glued, giving it a rough, 3-dimensional quality. These collages are largely the result of a concept rather than a process of skillful technique and design.

 

 

Garden 1, 2014

 

 

Garden 2, 2014

 

 


Garden 3, 2014

 

 

 

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