About My Artwork

I make collage-assemblage artwork from collected cultural artifacts. I will use illustrations and text from books and magazines and objects ranging from game pieces to rusted metal to toy figures, all of which are arranged in a relatively small boxed space. The elements and their placement are meticulously thought out and arranged intuitively so they can play around a theme or idea. The size of an art piece is generally determined by the contained parts, and I will fabricate a box to specific dimensions. The outside surfaces are also collaged with printed material and/or fabric.
One of my earliest influences from when I developed my first boxed assemblages is Victorian era “philosophical toys”—optical devices made to fascinate the viewer. I’m mainly attracted by how these objects established a close-up viewing relationship, which is a core idea in my artwork.
I make boxed assemblage pieces for shelf display and wall hanging, as well as pieces within the hard covers of books: alteredbookart.com.

About the Artwork Pages

Descriptions

Following the style of accompanying text I used on my altered book assemblage website, for this website I’ve similarly employed what I call forensic descriptions. I try to describe the details of a pieces in an unbiased, uncritical way. I give brief, concise descriptions of the collage material and objects and their arrangement within the boxed space. I matter-of-factly describe the images of the composition and their material nature in a way as to leave it open to further interpretation. I present the artwork with the language of an archivist and avoid establishing any meaning or interpretation.

Thoughts

In addition to the artwork’s description, I’ve put together some of my thoughts about the work. Some of these musings are ideas that were going through my head at the time they were being made. And some thoughts were invoked after sitting with the completed artwork, sometimes years later. Here again, I try to avoid explanations and overt meanings. These thoughts are meant to give the viewer inroads to any further explorations of the assemblages.

Images

I want to make a website space that will invite the viewer to linger a while, so with each work of art, I’ve chosen a collection of closeup and detailed photos of the work in order to entice viewers to mentally assemble the whole. This allows better insight into the piece than would a standard art portfolio photo of the entire work. For the sake of clarity, I do provide a standard exhibit photo of the boxed assemblage which appears at the top of the entry. [User note: When you click on any image on the page it will open into a slideshow of all the images for that page. For full-clarity photos, please allow it a minute.]

About Me

I’ve been creating boxed assemblage art since 1989, my last year of undergraduate studies in art and philosophy. My subsequent self-designed postgraduate studies led me to refine my cropping and wrapping collage methods as well as honing the objects and collage materials which were most important for what I had to say.
I’ve been fortunate to have been born and raised in New England where the idea of individual thought in combination with communitarian ideals seep from our regional bedrock and into the thoughts establishing my artwork.
For more biographical information snippets on me, keep an eye out for the occasional mention in the Thoughts section on each artwork’s page.