Reflecting on Reflections: a Collage Approach

 

I have written and re-written this one paragraph many times.  I am looking for words that carry some thought and bring some depth to the subject of collage.  Maybe I am trying to sound too self-important.  This horse collage was an exercise in finding what worked and didn’t work.  The reflection was too muddy at first.  I also had a third horse that overcrowded the picture.  My preliminary sketches were solid but didn’t point to what would be the critical focus areas or structure.  Multiple problems surfaced at the same time!  I had to move to a more practical place.

1st Version

As you can see it’s not that this first attempt was bad, it just was not its best version.  Just as when water is disturbed and blurs a reflection, I needed to wait for the water to settle and calm to see more clearly.  Time offers itself as the first measure of help.  To not do anything is important, strangely enough.  If I had continued to simply make small little incremental changes in color and form I would have not taken the big step to remove the third horse.  Time offered fresh eyes to see again. 

Earlier stage

I should have seen the imbalance earlier on.  My desire to complete it rather than address the developing problem area made the process more difficult.  Sometimes I just wish things to go away without actually doing anything about it.  I have stressors in my life (work, family conflicts, feelings of doubt) that push me to create at a pace that does match the requirements of the work.  Fortunately collage is a very forgiving medium and to fix a problem is solved by simply layering over the areas needed.  

Reflecting on this horse reflection collage has shown me that I have a lot to learn still.  There is not an exact way to create, the formula used for one collage can be the wrong one for another, and that being able to see what is directly in front of you is more difficult than what seems at first glance.  Seeing something appropriately has an element of time associated to it.  There’s a relationship there that I continue to grow into.