it happens at night 1
Paper collage 201924.2 x 30it happens at night 1
Paper collage 201924.2 x 30The "It Happens at Night" series emerged organically over time, as I worked (with permission) with the wonderful photographs of Dave Jordano and Gregory Crewdson as the foundation of each collage.
As with all of my collages, I never set out to make a particular thing - this approach seems counter to the wonder of the collage medium, where the hands can act independently of the brain. Instead I respond to the material, and let something emerge through juxtaposition. As I go back into my archive of works to catalogue my collages I'm finding key works that encapsulate my approach to paper-and-glue collage.
I make a single intervention into an existing work to add an uncanny or mysterious element, creating possible narratives from the smallest interventions. The collage itself is simple but the process of finding the perfect element that can suggest that the world around us is more mysterious and strange than we know. No doubt the original Twin Peaks series had a long tail of influence for me. It’s hard to express how radical that weirdness was when it came to us via basic broadcast TV in Australia. It felt like we had no capacity to understand it, just to be in the wash of its deeply unsettling and beautiful strangeness. The image of Bob crawling over the top of the couch is still the most terrifying sequence living deep in my subconscious.
The single intervention here is the girl fossicking in the mound of dirt. The original photo, from the wonderful book Detroit Nocture by @dave.jordano , showed only the deserted lot at night. This book of photos of unpeopled night scenes was @thecollageclub shared text for cutting a few years back, and each week I created these “it happens at night” collages, depicting uncanny scenes occurring unseen, when the rest of the world is asleep. There are no digital elements, each is a vintage paper element over the actual printed photo. The approach that began with the Dave Jordano night photographs in Detroit Nocturne continued with the photographs of Gregory Crewdson, also used with the permission of the creator.
recharging for the next battle in the war against the patriarchy
Paper collage. 201925.3 x 30.3apparition of ecstacy
Paper collage. 202125.3 x 30.3the performance
Paper collage. 202125.3 x 30.3backyard apparition
Paper collage. 201925.3 x 30.3absolution
Paper collage. 202125.3 x 30.3entering the gene pool
Paper collage. 201925.3 x 30.3portal in the mist
paper collage. 201925.3 x 30.4sidewalk wax museum
Paper collage. 201925.3 x 30.3byo head night at duke's place
Paper collage. 201924.2 x 30taking instructions from the skull
Paper collage. 202125.3 x 30.3it happens at night 2
Paper collage. 201924.2 x 30the night bath
Paper collage. 201925.3 x 29.4nevertheless, she persisted, aka no
Paper collage. 201925.3 x 30.3