G A L L E R Y
A R C T U R U S
Elena Akhvlediani, 1927
To do the collages above we first cut a photocopy of this painting into three vertical sections.
Sae took the left hand section and I, deborah
took the middle section. We worked on our
pieces independently and when they were finished, laid them next to each other.
The result was surprising.
When we made copies of the Sickert painting our copier went crazy on the colour and produced this one you see here.
We immediately engaged in correcting the imperfections on the printer but after strongly rejecting this copy I ended up
being inspired to base my collage on this depiction. The collage above while looking significantly different was an attempt
to interpret Walter Sickert's painting. This exercise is always such a learning in how and what we observe.
I can now understand why Picass'o did 58 variations on this painting 'Las Meninas' I feel that I am also obsessed, trying to sense the relationships of light and dark which give shape and depth to this space. With every collage something is discovered and something is left out. Doing it from memory and sensation is so much more interesting than trying to be guided by
refering to the print. The panel of Sae's collage with dog connects in an uncanny way to my collage on the right. It is as if
he walked across to the other side of the room from where he was first depicted. Being witness to Sae's interpretation of
the same painting is so exciting. It seems we consistently have an opposite focus. We hope that you can observe something
of our process from looking at this series of collages.
After a rather long hibernation the light has entered in to the cave calling to come out and engage in the world