Cecil Touchon - CONTEMPORARY COLLAGE ARTIST

The Iberian Variations - COLLAGES ON PAPER
(click images to enlarge)

Fusion Series #2475	Fusion Series #2536	Fusion Series #2607	Fusion Series #2618	Employing the idea in music of making variations on a theme by another composer, the Iberian Variations are an exploration of abstract expressionist use of black ink gestural or 'action painting' such as by Franz Kline or Robert Motherwell to make abstract compositions. The name of the series comes from the title of a painting by Robert Motherwell called Iberia. In my case the markings are cut up and reassembled into collage compositions in order to have a balanced control between the intuitive brush painting and the structure of collage construction. This has been an on going series since the mid 80's. Below are examples from 2009. There are a number of factors that make these works uniquely my own which is the over all concept of collage. While Motherwell and Kline both used collage elements in their works, what makes these different is the idea of preparing the papers ahead of time, not to be used as themselves, but rather as material to construct collages with. The initial brush work was done on sheets of paper that are 5x6 feet in size. Once dry, these were cut into smaller sections and then a size for the collages was selected that would allow me to edit and crop the brush work down into very tight compositions that intensify the dynamics of the brush marks. Then other bits and pieces of brush work are carefully arranged to create a 'constructed gesture'. By working at a scale in excess of the final composition's size the brush work is not constrained by the edge as would be typical in an Abstract Expressionist work where the brush work is done in relation to the surface that is being worked on. In this way I am able to very consciously compose these works by how they are oriented and fitted into the final composition thus giving them a monumentality and sense of space that would not otherwise exist.
Fusion Series #2477	Fusion Series #2612	Fusion Series #2476	Fusion Series #2537
Fusion Series #2611	Fusion Series #2619	Fusion Series #2742	Fusion Series #2743
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