Mixed Media and Collage

The Five Elements of Taoist philosophy inspired me to create a series of collage-like works on brown paper bags. Each one begins with a photocopy of my own hands. There is an energy which flows from one element to the next, and then starts over again. The continuous flow of the Generative Cycle moves from Water to Wood to Fire to Earth to Metal. The Destructive Cycle moves from Water to Fire to Metal to Wood and then back to Earth.

The collages are part of a body of work created during my L.A. years in the mid-1980's. We took over abandoned buildings in downtown L.A. and filled them up with freaky installations and neo-Dadaist works and collages which were rampant in that era. What fun we had!

Each of these collages includes some of my own photographic images (for instance my own hands made very tiny and black) mixed with antique images and phrases from old books, and in one case, a postcard image of a 3-dimensional work by Salvador Dali.

Mixed Media