Eye of the beholder

'Eye of the beholder' collage by Paul Vallance.

I made this collage at the Jung Art Making Group. Usually when I make collages at home my cutting is quite precise, with this one I took less care. I'm never that keen on collages that feature cut out eyes and mouths, it seems such a cliche but with this one I found myself doing just that, and the whole thing then seemed to form around one eye and one mouth. I did the red, white and blue painted background as a separate full page painiting before making any of the collage. When it came to the end of the viewing someone in the group suggested the painting would frame the collage well-so I've stuck the two together. At the moment the collage is pinned to the boiler in my kitchen.

Descent

'Descent' collage by Paul Vallance

Ascent

'Ascentt' collage by Paul Vallance

Defying gravity

'Defying gravity' collage by Paul Vallance

This collage consists of three elements: 1. Sky from a contemporary book about the weather. 2. An old 60's photogravure image of the Portuguese coastline. 3. An image of a dancer by American photographer Doug Neal (in the original the dancer is pulling himself up a ladder).

Ship of fools

'Ship of fools' collage by Paul Vallance

Adam's apple

'Adam's apple (with Crocosmia)' collage by Paul Vallance

Frosted henge

Procession

'Procession' collage by Paul Vallance

The crack in everything

'The crack in everything' collage by Paul Vallance

'Ring the bells that still can ring

Forget your perfect offering

There's a crack in everything

That's how the light gets in'. 

Leonard Cohen.

Fallen angel

'Fallen angel' collage by Paul Vallance

Off-grid

'Off-grid' collage by Paul Vallance

Washed-up

'Washed-up' collage by Paul Vallance

This collage reminds me of one of my all time favourite short stories 'The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World' by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Collage lends itself quite well to magic realism...

Cherry

'Cherry' collage by Paul Vallance.

I made this collage some while ago and viewed it with some suspicion initially-worried that it might offend and be construed as objectifying. I like it more now and feel its closer to the true spirit of surrealism than many of my collages.  I find it mysterious and melancholic.
The buildings came from a fifties photography book of London scenes; the figures bottom right and left are market porters at the old Covent Garden market. The frosted tree in the background is from a winter sports photo.
The female model was taken from a contemporary lesbian and gay magazine; an article about lesbian erotica. I'm not sure if the woman is seated statue like on a plinth or emerging from a box. Although she is naked she has dignity.
 I included the arched structure as a nod to De Chirico who I'm a big fan of, adding the clock face, but removing the hands to give a suggestion of timelessness.

Angel

'Angel' paper-cut collage by Paul Vallance.

The pin-up is from a vintage issue of Gay Times magazine. The background a photograph of a cloud formation from a book about the weather. I got the idea of doing the paper-cut after finding a reproduction of a scrapbook made by Hans Christian Andersen who collected printed scraps and made paper-cuts for his children and friends. I've changed the colour balance of the collage to give it a bit of a sixties psychedelic feel.

Dance

'Dance' collage by Paul Vallance

I found this photograph of dancers in a 1963 edition of 'The Portugal I Love' one of a series of photography books on popular tourist destinations cities. I have 'The Paris I love' but cant bring myself to cut it up. The photogravure images are beautiful depicting an old fashioned romantic Paris that has now all but disappeared. In this collage I've added clouds and a cut out of the red planet -Mars. The dance of emptiness and form?