11.75”x10”, collage on book pages.

This series of collages started with a book, “Picasso’s Picassos”. The paintings were tipped in (meaning that the artwork was printed, and then glued into the book along one edge and the top corner. I decided to cut into the images, leaving the glued side and an edge along the bottom, to work as a kind of frame. Into the bottom edge/horizon line, I left a small sliver of the original painting, now cut into the shape of a vase or vases. I filled Picasso’s new vases with collage bits that I’d collected from various books- 1950s gardening guides, a wildflower encyclopedia, flowers found in jewelry, in paintings, etc. These new still life collages turn Picasso (an irritatingly macho figure, for sure) into an unwitting floral design collaborator.

Because these are cut from a book originally printed in 1961, the pages are a bit weathered, and there are things like creases and scuffed parts where the glued edge was removed. I think this adds to the visual interest, but wanted to point it out. They are not pristine.