More Works: Collage Portraits 1985-2007

This series started by cutting up color prints, weaving them together, and then gluing them on paper to be rephotographed. In 2004 using a digital camera I began to create them with a computer. The models are all friends who agreed to pose for me.  

Broken Apart: Collage Portraits (1985 - 2007) explores the idea of fragmentation, nonlinear design processes, and the manipulation of surfaces. The viewer locates the portrait within an environment of unpredictability and controlled chaos. The pose of the figure and the draping of fabrics refer back to classical art, while grotesque morphology, multiple limbs, and unnatural architecture allude to the genres of fantasy and Expressionism. In this work, I try to blur the line between caricature and realism, between one moment and many, between flattery and a parody of the posed portrait. Mimicking the ambiguous spaces and figurative distortion of Mannerist painters, in this altered universe my friends exist comfortably, and even gaze seductively at the viewer.