Karen Leland – Artist Statement
Through The Lens and Onto The Paper: Photographic Collages
This new series, “Through The Lens and Onto Paper,” combines my twenty-five years as a mixed media painter and printmaker with the art of photography. These pieces are created through a three-part process.
First, I go on a photographic safari and find what captures my eye and imagination: a single sunflower in a friend’s garden, persimmons stacked tall at the farmer’s market, the way moss grows in a mountain stream.
Next, I choose a series of photographs and collage them together, making a multi-layered, more complex image. Each piece involves between three and seven separate photographs. Some are then tinted or painted for the final result.
Lastly, I hand transfer the image onto fine-art paper using archival, ninety-year inks. The result is a limited edition series of unique prints, each with a slightly different look.
I also reproduce the original image as a limited edition Giclée, allowing it to become a bigger and bolder piece than the more subtle original print. In addition, I find that many of these images translate beautifully into a smaller space, and I re-create them as limited-edition, hand-assembled greeting cards.
My aim in creating these pieces is to reflect the way that the simple, everyday images around us contribute to the beauty in our lives.
