Category Archives: Collage

Destruction

Posted by npaul on

Mixed media (acrylic, wood shavings, metal scrap, fence wire), 2023

Size: w 16″x h 12″ x h 1.5″ cradled birch panel

Part I of Triptych (I, II, III: Destruction, Extinction, Disintegration)

Destruction

Rubble, ash, splintered wood, stone dust, pulverized concrete. What remains after the bombing of cities and catastrophe of earthquakes.


The following two poems will probably never see publication, so I put them out here (written in the last few weeks).


Gods of Peace and War

We are the gods of grace
We come from away and far
To show you a safe place
To light your way with stars

We are the gods of war
We travel now in space
To show you death and fear
We look into your face

We are the gods of peace

We are the gods that are

War Is Here

War is here; we’ve been attacked
Death will come for thee and me
As it has for saints and fools.

Before that, time will crease our hearts
And fear will corrugate our souls.

Into White (III) Disintegration

Posted by npaul on

Acrylic and graphite powder on canvas (2023)

Size: w 16″ x h 12″ x d 1″

Part III of Triptych Into White (I, II, III: Destruction, Extinction, Disintegration)

Into White (I, II, III:  Destruction, Extinction, Disintegration) — see previous posts for October and November — is a response to the current wars in the Ukraine and the Middle East, to the accelerating rate of extinction of species, to our rising fear for the future of the planet. It is currently on display at the Tri-Art Gallery in Kingston ON until early January 2024 as part of White, the first in a series of exhibits based on pigments. The entire show can be viewed online at https://www.triartgallery.ca/white

White is terror, white is peace; extreme heat and bitter cold.  For me, white especially symbolizes absence, before the beginning and after the end, the initial void and the final emptiness.  White is eternity, what always was and what will remain when time runs out.  I see white as non-existence but not to be confused with death, as it is outside the circle of mortality within which all other colours are eventually absorbed into black.  White is thus unknowable as it lies at one remove, not next or beside but one step away from life, after the chalk line has been erased.

Destruction:  The action or process of causing so much damage to something that it no longer exists or cannot be repaired.

Extinction:  The complete disappearance of a species from Earth.

Disintegration:  The process of losing cohesion and unity; of coming to pieces, falling apart.

Nereids Ascending

Posted by npaul on

Nereids Ascending

Acrylic, graphite, collage (2018)

Size:  w 20″ x h 20″

My recent solo show Restoring Balance:  Before and Between (Art Noise Gallery, Kingston Canada — 23 Aug to 20 Sep) featured this work and its companion, Nereids Descending, both completed in July this year.   The gallery (http://www.artnoise.ca/gallery.html) currently is exhibiting A Show of Smalls, featuring the work of over 20 artists, including mine — on through October 18.

Nereids Descending (Detail)

Posted by npaul on

nereids descending

Acrylic, graphite, collage on canvas (2018, work in progress)

Size:  w 20″ x h 16″

My upcoming solo show at the wonderful music listening space at Art Noise gallery (Tri-Art paints) in Kingston Ontario is titled Restoring Balance:  Before and Between.  Works created using acrylic paint and media plus graphite, collage, pastel on stone, canvas, paper will be displayed.  Please drop in! the exhibit is up 23 August to 20 September 2018.

Fish Flying Home

Posted by npaul on

Fish Flying Home

Mixed Media — acrylic, graphite, collage, ink (2017)

Size:  w 10″ x h 8″

I finished this piece today for the annual silent auction of the Union Gallery located at Stauffer Library, Queen’s University, Kingston (auction dates: October 14th to November 17th).  The theme this year is Place/Identity.