The collage that fought me for nine months finally clicked
Nine months on this piece. Torn paper and a 1962 photo of a gas station I found in a box at an estate sale. Kept putting the same corner in and taking it out. My studio mate would come by and go "oh, it's that one again" and I'd want to throw it at her head.
Yesterday I flipped the damn gas station upside down. Just to see. And that was it. The whole thing fell open like it was waiting for me to stop being precious about it.
I don't know why it took that long. I think I was attached to what the photo was instead of what it could do. Anyway. It's done. Frame's too small now but I'll deal with that later. Sometimes the work just needs you to be wrong about it for a while.
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Ha, the "stop being precious" part really got me. That's the whole battle with any art, isn't it. Nine months is a long time to hold on to something though, so good on you for getting there in the end.
The upside-down flip thing is such a classic move and it always works because it forces you to see the composition instead of the subject. I do that with my sketches sometimes when I'm stuck, turn the reference or even the painting around and suddenly the shapes make sense that the object didn't.
Also the "attached to what the photo was instead of what it could do", that's such a self-aware thing to catch. Most of us never figure out why we were stuck, we just finally push through. Nine months is a long time to hold onto a piece though. Did the studio mate get a proper apology or just a smug "told you"? 🙂
appreciate that. and yeah, the flip is so dumb and so reliable. I do it without thinking now but this one I'd been circling for months without trying it, which is honestly embarrassing. guess I was too busy being stubborn.
glad someone gets the photo thing. took me forever to admit I was hung up on the image having "meaning" instead of just being material. it's a damn photo of a gas station, not a relic.