Archive for the ‘Theme/Variation’ Category

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to Chicago from Kentucky . . .

Monday, July 20th, 2015

“When the end of the world comes, I want to be in Kentucky because it’s always 20 years behind the times.”
— commonly attributed to Mark Twain

One of the best things about Kentucky is that everyone here is where they want to be, except for the usual quantity of young folks looking to escape to some other place where the grass is greener, but doesn’t everybody know that Kentucky has the greenest grass, even if somebody long ago decided that we’re supposed to call it blue?

I like to tip my hat to Ted Tollefson for turning me on to the new enjoyment of creating collage miniatures on beverage coasters. When I discovered a stash of Pepsi’s Super Bowl XLVI coasters, I knew I had to put some of them to good use. Not long after, one of my best pals commissioned a triplet of versions as gifts to friends in Chicago, and the small series featured below was the result.
 

Dixon_KY(4)

KY(4)
collage on Super Bowl XLVI coaster by J A Dixon
4 x 4 inches, collection of L Gels

Dixon_KY(5)

KY(5)
collage on Super Bowl XLVI coaster by J A Dixon
4 x 4 inches, collection of J Straus

Dixon_KY(6)

KY(6)
collage on Super Bowl XLVI coaster by J A Dixon
4 x 4 inches, collection of G K Straus

Posted in Artifacts, Gift Art, J A Dixon, M Twain, T Tollefson, Theme/Variation | No Comments »

more leaps . . .

Monday, June 15th, 2015

“Different themes inevitably require different methods of expression. This does not imply either evolution or progress; it is a matter of following the idea one wants to express and the way in which one wants to express it.”
— Pablo Picasso

The quick sale of Rhetorical Leap was among several factors that would cause me to create a slightly larger piece with similar themes. It was an interesting experience on multiple levels. I had the opportunity to revisit my original intuitive process in a more rational way. It is not for me to judge the relative “success” of either work. I prefer to focus on what it was like to make the journey a second time. Personally, I find the effort to recapture nearly any aspect of life to be a hit-or-miss proposition. For every time one scores the same enjoyment or sense of fulfillment, there is another that falls short of expectations. For this reason, I tend to resist variations on a theme or a defined series when approaching collage artwork. At any rate, that is my tendency, although the practice retains a special appeal that I have no reason to resist. Ideally, one’s entire body of work might be seen by others as an extended series of thematic variations. It is only natural for most observers to put emphasis on the end products, rather than the more obscure goings-on that make up the creative process.
 

detail from Rhetorical Leap ~ John Andrew Dixon  detail from Leap of Faith ~ John Andrew Dixon

left: Rhetorical Leap (detail)
right: Leap of Faith (detail)
two collage artworks on canvas by J A Dixon

Posted in Combined Mediums, Details, Ingredients, J A Dixon, Methodology, P Picasso, Theme/Variation | No Comments »

Fifteenth Cosmosaic

Wednesday, November 5th, 2014

“Curiosity about the unknown has no boundaries. Symbols, images, place and cultures merge. Time slips away. The stars, the cards, the mystic vigil may hold the answers. By shifting the point of view an inner spirit is released. Free to create.”
— Betye Saar

Cosmosaic was the word I chose in 1998 for a collage series that marked my first efforts at bringing to larger artworks what I had learned from creating numerous miniatures. They were intended as gifts for loved ones, with each focusing on the unique soul of the intended recipient. After completing fourteen of them over a seven-year span, I produced another in 2006 to exhibit with The Society of Layerists in Multi–Media. It relied on a more time-intensive technique than prior Cosmosaics, was more deliberate in conceptual development, was meant for no specific individual, and was more overtly metaphysical than any collage artwork I had done previously. As far as I was concerned, it was clearly a Cosmosaic, but it also stood apart from the series pattern and subsequently made the rounds of various exhibitions between periods of storage until we expanded our gallery space last year. Just as I had settled into the idea that this piece might always reside at my studio, it found a buyer this past weekend during the Open Studios ARTTOUR.

After looking through some old promotional notes, I was a bit surprised to discover the degree to which I had described the piece in spiritual terms:

“The largest composition in an eight-year series, this most recent ‘Cosmosaic’ represents my intensified concern with symmetry, proportion, and balance, both thematically and aesthetically. A spontaneous blending of found material — symbolic images, familiar icons, and mundane fragments — it shapes an interpretation of ‘the moving stream of life.’ The visual approach reinforces my sense of a profound interconnectedness, with eternal access to atonement, forgiveness, illumination, opportunity for soul attainment, and individual freedom through the Universal Christ.”
 

Fifteenth Cosmosaic ~ a mixed-media collage by J A Dixon

Fifteenth Cosmosaic
mixed-media collage by J A Dixon
17 x 21 inches

•  S O L D

Posted in Collage, Combined Mediums, Cosmosaic Series, Exhibitions, Gift Art, J A Dixon, Larger Works, Links, Methodology, Symbolism, Technique, Theme/Variation | No Comments »

An end is perhaps the beginning

Saturday, May 10th, 2014

“What the Color Field painters shared most importantly with the Abstract Expressionists was the conviction that the role of art was not to report on the visible, but to reveal the unknown. They shared too, the belief that paintings that resembled nothing preexisting could have the presence, authority and associative richness of other real things in the world.”
— Karen Wilkin

I began my Bibelot Series by recalling to mind the lost treasures of George Headley. With this 13th miniature, I am wondering if the meditation may have reached its culmination. The primary reason centers on the changes that occurred with my process while creating this most recent composition. Because I find myself thinking less about the precious fabrications that provided the initial inspiration and more about the aesthetic qualities of the artifact manifesting before me, the connection to the Headley works have diminished enough for me to consider whether or not the transition to a new investigation is taking place. The color and abstract relationships inherent in an evolving collage surface seem to exist for their own sake, rather than as an homage to other artistic ideas, and point to a deeper reality. What comes next? As a student of American History, the number 13 has never felt unlucky to me. We shall see what follows.
 

Spy (Bibelot 848)
collage miniature by J A Dixon
4 x 5.5 inches
 
Purchase this artwork!

Posted in 1) Available!, Abstract Expressionism, Bibelot Series, Color Field, Influences, J A Dixon, Methodology, Theme/Variation | No Comments »

This artist is not coasting . . .

Wednesday, April 30th, 2014

“To alcohol: the cause of, and solution to, all of life’s problems.”
— Homer Simpson

Yesterday was my birthday, and I was rocked by the generosity of a fellow practitioner, Ted Tollefson. A veteran collaborator, he is also one of the more versatile individuals currently laboring in the medium. Like many collage artists, Tollefson explores a number of different approaches, but has recently established his mastery of the collage-on-beer-coaster format.

I was not fully aware until today that he has been producing a coaster-based collage for each of his facebook friends. That means hundreds of miniatures in a relatively short time frame, and, from what I can tell, he calibrates the visual method for each intended recipient. Given my expressed fondness for personal miniatures, TT is a kindred spirit indeed. He has crafted a real gem for my gift coaster. Everything about it — scale, colors, composition, textures, choice of ingredients — are simply outstanding. Thank you, sir, for your kindness. Keep up the superb effort. You are a true heir to Kurt Schwitters. Merz lives!

Take a look at just a few examples of his creative output and you might share my high regard for this mushrooming body of intriguing work.
 

April 29
collage on beer coaster
by T Tollefson for J A Dixon


 

 

 

 

Personal miniatures on beer coasters by Ted Tollefson.
(Hover over image for more information; click to view larger.)

Posted in Artifacts, Gift Art, K Schwitters, Merz, T Tollefson, Technique, Theme/Variation | No Comments »

Bibelot Series

Tuesday, November 5th, 2013

“The museum suffered a crisis in July 1994, when burglars broke into the jewel room and stole 103 pieces worth $1.6 million, including most of the bibelot collection. The biggest art heist in Kentucky history remained a mystery for five years, and then a group of Ohio thieves was caught and convicted. Unfortunately, the bibelots apparently had been dismantled and sold as scrap for a fraction of their value.”
— Tom Eblen, Lexington Herald-Leader

I made a visit to the Jewel Room at the Headley-Whitney Museum only once, many years ago, and I was deeply inspired by the capacity to bring raw imagination into physical manifestation. The heartbreaking theft of numerous bibelot masterworks makes it nearly impossible for me to return and view a diminished collection. I have dedicated this series of miniatures to my vivid memory of what used to be.
 


 

 

 

Dedicated to the lost masterworks of George Headley.
Click on a thumbnail image to preview each miniature.

Posted in 1) Available!, Bibelot Series, G Headley, J A Dixon, Theme/Variation | No Comments »

Theme and Variation in Collage, part 3

Friday, September 27th, 2013

“To me I think artists in general make a statement — and for the rest of their lives — every album, every book — are variations on a theme.”
— Mark Mothersbaugh

Here are two examples of my ongoing participation in groups that collaborate through thematic emphasis. Gentle Zephyr is a response to the theme of “music” at the Collage facebook page, but I also made obvious reference to the previous album, “atomic bombs.” Tir de Duc is my second submission to the Target Practice project initiated by L T Holmes. The exciting collaboration that makes use of vintage paper targets has taken on a new significance in recent weeks. Collage artists could spend all their available time interacting with each other through the many active collaborative formats. It is important to find the proper balance between solitary investigation and the dynamic cross-fertilization taking place within contemporary collage.
 

Gentle Zephyr
collage miniature by J A Dixon
6.625 x 9.25 inches

•  S O L D

Tir de Duc
collage miniature by J A Dixon
vintage target from L T Holmes
8 x 10 inches
 
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Theme and Variation in Collage, part 2

Saturday, August 10th, 2013

“But now I had these targets, and something grand in me wanted to make the two divergent threads — one of my artwork, one of my father — intertwine.”
— Laura Tringali Holmes

An increasingly engaging form of collaboration in collage is the coming together of a diverse group to explore the shared concept. In my last post we looked at an example in which the participants artistically exploited an image or thematic suggestion. Today we feature a remarkable project launched by L T Holmes that makes use of nearly identical vintage paper targets she has magnanimously provided to those taking part. Anyone reading this is urged to investigate her recent blog entry that offers an affecting backstory for the “Target Practice” initiative.

As this outstanding series takes shape, I cannot help but think of the Merz painting, “Hitler Gang,” and how KS (as usual) was just a bit ahead of us. If he thought a target was a cool collage ingredient nearly 70 years ago, I am, for one, quite content to continue digging the ground he broke. At least we are not fearing for our personal safety, thank heaven.
 

Friday, 1963
collage miniature by J A Dixon
vintage target from L T Holmes
6 x 7 inches
 
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Posted in 1) Available!, Collaboration, Ingredients, J A Dixon, K Schwitters, L T Holmes, Merz, Theme/Variation | No Comments »

Sweet Contamination

Friday, August 9th, 2013

The thematic series has a long tradition in the visual arts. Collage and assemblage are no different, thanks to the groundbreaking legacy of Joseph Cornell. Preparations are under way for me to expand the Silk Road Series that I began in March. Creating variations within a thematic limitation has also become a fixture of current collaboration in collage. An artist will suggest the visual parameter (such as T R Flowers did recently with an “Atomic Bombs” album at facebook) and participants respond with their individual interpretations. Here’s my contribution to that particular series:
 

Sweet Contamination
collage miniature by J A Dixon
7.875 x 5.5 inches
 
Purchase this artwork!

Posted in 1) Available!, Collaboration, J A Dixon, Links, T R Flowers, Theme/Variation | No Comments »

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