Most of my collages end up being in series, but not all. Just as with the horizontal collages I posted prior to this one, many times I am not focused on a theme, I’m focused on a person. In each of these cases I met these people serendipitously. While some of the people I knew before hand, there were no planned shoots, no advanced warning. I saw them, (in some cases just meeting them for the first time), asked them to let me photograph them at that moment and they said yes. That was it. They and the environment they were in gave me the raw material and I built the collages from there.
The Texture of the Truth
I was looking for an estate sale in a neighborhood and happened upon an open house on the same block. I went in just out of curiosity and met the realtor. When I finished looking around I found her out on the front porch. She was lit beautifully with front light and since I had my camera with me I took a chance and asked her if I could take some photographs of her right there and then. She said yes. The clarity, texture and contrast of her skin was perfect, especially her hand against her teal colored shirt.
The Circles Around Her
I was at an art opening in Downtown Tulsa when I happened upon one of my daughter’s closest high school friends from many years before. I first saw someone lit from behind by the circles of a giant interactive Light Bright and took a quick picture. It wasn’t until I came up closer that I realized it was her. She had seen plenty of my artwork in our home over the years so she knew exactly what I did. She was game for me to take some quick pics of her in the middle of this outdoor art scene.
The Natural Function
I was at a coffee house in Tulsa when I noticed a high school friend of one of my daughters from years before sitting at a nearby table working. I eventually went up to her to say hi and noticed she was doing math homework. She had the late afternoon sun hitting her at that point and the color was amazing. I asked her if I could take some photographs of her and her surroundings and she said yes.
The Mind and Heart
I met this woman at a cafe in Tulsa. She had on some gorgeous jewelry that caught my eye. I introduced myself and had a nice conversation about many things including the jewelry, which was of her own creation. I asked if I could take some photographs of her and the jewelry and she said yes. We also talked about using both your head and heart to create and when I went outside I found a very colorful pile of trash inexplicably on the side of the road and a single cloud all by itself in the sky. They seems a metaphor for the head and heart so I put them in the middle of her portrait.
The Jewelry Truth
This woman was a student at the medical college where I worked and I would see her again and again with incredible jewelry. Finally I asked her if I could take some photographs of her and her jewels for a collage. They seemed to be so much of an organic part of her that I wanted them coming directly out of her.
Pretty Angst
I met this woman at an art opening in Tulsa. I was single at the time and we made plans to get together. We did a number of art oriented things together though we never actually dated. She ended up posing for me 2-3 times for collages. She had a complicated and convoluted life situation at the time and this collage was meant to express that fragmentation.
What Surrounded Her Smile
I was in Shenendoah Valley, Virginia for a wedding and visited a medicinal herb shop. The proprietor explained some of the items for sale with such a positive, smiling attitude that I really wanted to do a collage of her and all that surrounded her. And so I did.
Boat Gabardine
She was a co-worker of mine. When I photographed her she told me her dress fabric pattern was called Gabardine. I made a collage of a photo of the fabric/skin and it reminded me of a boat.
Relative Construction
It started out as a portrait of a relative of mine and it still is but sometimes a portrait becomes abstract and it’s all about the formal elements of color, texture, contrast and composition, not a face or a body.
Portrait in a Garden
I was in Colorado for a wedding when I met this woman in the lobby of the hotel we were staying at. She asked about my camera and that led to me telling her about my photography and photo collages. Next thing I know I am in the garden next to the hotel taking photographs of her and her surroundings. In particular I loved finding leaves in the garden that echoed the texture of the skin on her chest.
The Beauty Blend
I met this mother daughter duo at a wedding. The more I looked at them the more I saw how, even though they dressed and styled themselves differently, they still retained a strong connection. I asked them if I could take some photographs for a collage and they said yes.
The Good Dream
For many years I worked at a restaurant in San Jose, California. One co-worker was a music student at the time and later became a professional singer. She posed for me in an opera gown for a large drawing I was doing at the time (early 1990s). Years later I met up with her in Boston where she was performing at the big central church of her denomination. I was able to go to the service and hear her. Afterwards I took some photos of her, the sanctuary, church and details that I later used for this collage.
While many of my photo collages are done in series, not all are. Often I am doing a portrait collage and it’s not connected to a theme, it’s connected to an individual. Such is the case with these.
Many of them were strangers that I happened to meet at work or at events. Something about them caught my eye. I explained that I was an artist doing photo-collages and asked if I could take photos of them. They said yes and these are the results.
The Bride To Be
She worked with me and I was taken by the decor in her office. I asked if I could take some photos of her in that environment and while I was taking the photos she said she was about to get married.
The Coleman Daughters
The photos of our daughters, Rebekah, Chelsea, Caitlin and Connie were taken at our wedding on November 11th, 2006.
Winter Portrait With Joy
I came out of work one winter day and saw this woman slipping and sliding away on the ice covered slope next to the parking lot. She was all alone having fun. I watched her for a while the asked her if I could take some photos of her in action. She agreed and continued to slide for a while. She later came over and allowed me to take some portraits so I could make a collage.
Wave of Diamonds
A Student at the University where I worked.
Nature/Nurture
A student at the University where I worked.
Nails
Someone I was related to or knew, I forget who, was getting a manicure. I took pics of her nails being done and then asked the nail technician if I could take photographs of her to create a collage.
Journey to the Interior
I took the photos of my step-daughter Caitlin on our trip to Virginia for my daughter Rebekah’s wedding in 2006.
Hair and Scar
She was sitting in the row right in front of me at some event and was playing with her hair. I was mesmerized by that alone and then she parted her hair at one point to expose the scar. I asked her if I could take photos and she said yes.
Rococo
A student at the University where I worked.
The Vortex She Creates
I was hired to take some ‘boudoir’ style photos of this woman and while doing so found many opportunities to get photos that exposed a more revealing version of her than one without clothes.
Surfaces of the Interior
She was at a coffee shop I was at and I was taken by the lightness of her blue eyes. I felt if I could capture that light I would find a way into her interior. I asked her if I could take some photographs and she said yes.
Back in 2015 LInda, Caitlin and I took a vacation to London and Paris. I did many pen and ink drawings in my sketchbook. I didn’t paint any of them at the time but always had the intention of getting back to them to do that. When I got home from my 2025 trip to Europe I took out my old 2015 sketchbook to compare drawings from the two adventures and decided it was time to paint.
I chose to only partially paint the drawings as an experiment. I like them this way. what do you think?
The Bird’s Nest, 2015-2025
She did everything fast, frenetic, like a bird. She built her nest in the seat next to mine as we flew over the Atlantic.
The Shot of Coffee, 2015-2025
She wasn’t sure what I meant when I said I wanted a shot of coffee but it was my fault while in London because I didn’t know but the tall guy told me that they call it filtered coffee and then she knew.
The Love Far Away, 2015-2025
She ate her oatmeal as she thought of the love of her life far away but happy.
The Arm Drawn Wrong, 2015-2025
She had crutches and was eating a paster and I drew her arm wrong and had to make up for it as best I could.
Self-Portrait, 2015-2025
Self-portrait in an iPad while I Periscope in a coffee shop, Il Molino, in Lavender Hill in London, UK and eating pastries.
The Lovers, 2015-2025
I didn’t meet them so I made up a story about them but it isn’t true so I will tell it to you now. They were lovers breaking up in a french cafe but were from Rome and one wanted to go home and the other pretended to care but had a secret.
The Museum I Didn’t Go To, 2015-2025
The woman looked so French with her big bow and loose bobbed hair that I had to draw her but it was the woman eating in the back who noticed me drawing and came over wanted to see and told me about her favorite museum that I didn’t end up going to.
Caitlin and the Shy Asian Girl, 2015-2025
Caitlin didn’t know I was drawing her but the shy asian girl with the stylish hat did and it made her smile and blush and happy and I gave her my card.
She Wished She Stayed, 2015-2025
She was in Paris and was bringing home gifts to her family but wished she could stay because the kind man in the train station who saved her from having her wallet stolen and they had talked and he walked her and her friend over to the cute cafe for a glass of wine and they talked more and he helped them find the store selling a certain type of Macarons and then to dinner where they ate escargot and drank more wine and she thought she was too old for that sort of thing but felt the tingle and was happy.
I studied Art History a lot in undergraduate and graduate school. I learned all the isms, all the movements and all the major participants. But some people never fit into a movement or an ism. Sometimes I liked their work anyway, other times they didn’t do much for me and they fell by the wayside. Marisol was in that group. She did blocky wooden sculptures of people that for some reason just didn’t engender any curiosity for me. I never knew more than just her greatest hits that would be in art history books or magazines and even those I perused with indifference.
But when there was going to be a major retrospective of her work at the Dallas Museum of Art I felt there was no reason for me not to check it out. At worst I would have a great day at the museum and among the food trucks next door and create some good sketchbook drawings.
I was more than pleasantly surprised. I found the work of an incredible artist who is profoundly creative, courageous, original and persistent in pursuing her vision. I had no idea of the breadth and depth of her work. This is why I go to exhibitions, because seeing what an art historian writes up in a book about an artist is no different than reading a music review of an album instead of actually listening to the album. One must experience creativity first hand to really feel it.
Here are some highlights from my visit.
Three Women with Umbrella – 1966 –
Three white women elegantly dressed up juxtaposed with a terrified young Vietnamese child holding a teddy bear. The working title for this was simply ‘Vietnam’. It is this type of sly commentary about social and political issues that made Marisol so unique.
Graphite and paint on wood with plexiglas, found plastic umbrella and stuffed bird
Three Women with Umbrella – close up
Three Women with Umbrella – close up
The Jazz Wall – 1963 – wood, found objects, paper and paint on wood
The Jazz Wall – close up
The Jazz Wall – close up
Marisol used her own face for the castings of the trumpet and piano players.
Illustration for Paris Review – 1967 – Ink on paper, Silkscreen – artist’s proof
Doll – various fabrics – 1955-63
Marisol was sometimes trivialized by the press as making toy-like art and dolls. She did make many dolls, often as part of larger sculptures but also as stand alone pieces. Her inspiration stemmed from an older artist in Venezuela, Armando Reverón, who did the same thing.
Baby Boy – 1962-1963 – Painted wood and mixed media
Another covert commentary in guise of a something benign. The baby boy is monstrously big and is seemingly manhandling the doll (with a photo of Marisol’s face). The clothing is a partial white star, a blue sleeve and red stripes. At the time someone paying attention would have understood the messaging that the US is a big toddler bully, only partially aware of the damage it is causing.
Baby Boy – close upSelf-Portrait – 1961-1962 – Wood, plaster, marker, paint, graphite, human teeth, gold and plastic
Self Portrait – close up
Ruth – 1962 – carved wood and mixed media
This is a portrait of Marisol’s good friend Ruth Kligman, a big personality in New York art world of the 50s and 60s who had an affair with Jackson Pollack and was injured in the car wreck that killed him in 1956.
There are multiple portraits in the round with cast hands (Marisol’s) and cast bell peppers as breasts.
Ruth – close up
Tea for Three – 1960 – Wood, acrylic, found objects
This sculpture shows one of the first times Marisol used her own body. The casts of mouth, nose and hands are hers.
The colors represent the Venezuelan flag, her heritage.
Tea for Three – close upThe Party – 1965-1966 – Assemblage of 15 freestanding, life-size figures and three wall panels
The Party, close up
The Party, close up
Marisol was a well-known celebrity in the mid 60s, often found in the pages of fashion magazines alongside her creations as well as at well documented parties among the cognoscenti of the time.. This ambitious piece recreates that world from the most to the least celebrated. Each figure is endowed with the artist’s own face, thus making a statement not just about society but about herself.
Swimming in a New Direction
At the height of her fame in 1968 she disappeared. She took off for points unknown to most of the art world, divorcing herself from that society for a period of time. What she did with that time was to travel and specifically to travel underwater. She learned to scuba dive and spent years taking photos and film underwater. Five years later, in 1973, she started to show the creative results of that exploration.
The large figure looks much like the famous Greek Kouros. Both the odd creature at the fishman’s feet and the fish he is holding have faces that are casts of Marisol’s face.
Pescado – 1970 – cast acrylic – edition of 75
Barracuda – 1971 – wood, varnish, plastic
An interesting side note – All the fish she sculpted were given the names of US warships of the time. She was once again creating art and making political statements, however obliquely, at the same time.
Untitled – 1972 – watercolor and ballpoint pen on paper
St Maarten – 1972 – Gouache, watercolor and graphite on paper
While she was on her travels she painted extensively in her sketchbooks and on larger pieces.
Diptych – 1971 – Lithograph
Marisol also experimented extensively with printmaking. In this instance she was inspired by the Japanese technique of Gyotaku printing, pressing a fish against paper to document prize catches. Instead of fish she used her own oiled and nude body pressed on to two lithography stones that she then worked and printed.
You can see in the close up the cartoon heart pierced by and arrow and the wound in her side surrounded by teeth.
This using of a technique that is used to celebrate catches of meat on her own body instead is a courageous statement of the objectifying sexism of her day.
Diptych – close upi Did My Future – 1974 – colored pencil and graphite on paper
Marisol never shied away from speaking her mind about the abstract violence of war and the very real violence against women and others right around her in New York and beyond.
Here she uses a friend’s body that has been laid out on paper that she then outlines with randomly chosen colored pencils. Combining the blood tinged body outline with dark guns, anonymous sexually grabbing hands and a realistic rendering of the model’s infant child is a great example of the power of artistic creativity to send a profound message.
Horace Poolaw – 1993 – wood, paint, graphite, plaster and metal wheeled base
This was Marisol’s contribution to an exhibition celebrating the 500th anniversary of Columbus’s voyage to the new world.
She created a portrait of an indigenous person set on a police barricade cart that says ‘Police Line Do Not Cross’.
The Funeral – 1996 – Paint, crayon, and oil on wood
Marisol’s social commentary sometimes went into pathos and despair as can be seen in this sculpture of JFK Jr. saluting at his father’s funeral.
Picasso – 1977 – Painted Bronze
Untitled – 2006 – graphite and colored pencil on paper
As Marisol aged she lost her memory but not her ability or desire to create. She did numerous drawings of her caregivers, friends and self-portraits. Her techniques and subject matter remained constant throughout her life even as her materials were reduced to just colored pencils.
Hopefully you come away from seeing this collection with either a new or expanded appreciation for an artist who never wavered in her intense desire for freedom of creativity and an insightful and heartfelt response to what in her mind was a grossly unfair and hurtful world. She did not pursue fame and fortune but rather substance and meaning. In that she succeeded.
After I got home from France I was inspired to continue to create when out and about as much as possible. This includes, as usual, drawing in church. But I also drew on the train, in a park and in a museum. And, as is often the case, I also drew images that I just made up in my head. I also painted a drawing I started while in France.
Mèlanie a Hotel Demeure, Paris
Once I painted the image I made sure to contact Mélanie at the hotel and send her the finished image. She was happy to see it and made a point to welcome us to stay there again if we came back.
TheSinger WaitingDistracted PrayerListening to the Sermon About the TongueLunch at the Kimbell Museum, Fort Worth, TXKatie with the DrawingEating at Klyde Warren Park, Dallas, TXWaiting for Food at Klyde Warren Park, Dallas, TXReading a Book About Women on DARTReading Her Phone on DARTThe Sermon Was About FireThe Butterfly and the VolcanoSpirals
