{"id":5511,"date":"2015-08-24T08:19:37","date_gmt":"2015-08-24T12:19:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.xorph.com\/jadixon\/?p=5511"},"modified":"2017-01-29T17:44:11","modified_gmt":"2017-01-29T21:44:11","slug":"a-kentucky-collaboration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.xorph.com\/jadixon\/archives\/5511","title":{"rendered":"A Kentucky Collaboration"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cI\u2019ve collaborated with many artists over the years but never on a project of this size. The two pieces were to be 24″ x 24″ on structured panels. What made this collaboration successful was the interplay between the two artists. We both sent numerous pictures of our starts in progress and were able to play off the ideas and techniques the other was using, in this we created a true pair of collages instead of two separate pieces.\u201d
\n\u2014 Robert Hugh Hunt
\n <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Collaboration between collage artists is a widespread, dynamic development within a medium that has shown extraordinary vitality after its centennial milestone in 2012. This very well may be part of a broader phenomenon, due in no small way to the explosion of social media and a greater networking among artists of all kinds. I was not surprised when, earlier this year, here in my home state, the Kentucky Artisan Center at Berea<\/a> announced a major exhibition called It Takes Two: Collaborations by Kentucky Artisans<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n

In response to this opportunity, I decided to contact Robert Hugh Hunt<\/strong><\/a>, an artist from Richmond, Kentucky whose work I had come to respect after we made a connection through Facebook<\/a>. Both of us were aware of our geographic proximity, but had not previously met in person, nor had we collaborated remotely on a casual project. Appreciating each other\u2019s prior work is no guarantee that two artists will enjoy the collaborative process or value the creative end result. Only by risking a joint venture will both artists find out if they actually are \u201con the same wavelength.\u201d I am pleased to report that the results of my teamwork with Robert exceeded our optimistic expectations, and that one of the two pieces we created was selected for the \u201cTakes Two\u201d show. <\/p>\n

As artists, Robert and I both work regularly with combined mediums, but we chose collage as the foundation of our approach because we recognize how ideally suited it is for collaboration. There was no inclination to think small. We each fabricated larger dimensional panels and created a \u201cstart\u201d for the other \u2014 to establish the background and organize the two-dimensional space with found material and other recycled\/repurposed elements. \"collage<\/a>After meeting for the first time (with spouses, over lunch at a delightful new Cuban eatery halfway between our studios), we exchanged the unfinished works to complete the compositions with additional ingredients and renderings. Robert\u2019s recognized practice of layering his cut-and-paste collage artworks with mixed-media additions had already caught my attention, and his expressed aim to do the same within our collaboration inspired me to include a hand-rendered element<\/a> as a focal point in my \u201cfinish,\u201d which we titled Kentucky Sovereign<\/em><\/strong><\/a>. Robert\u2019s finish, Kentucky Madonna<\/em><\/strong><\/a>, features multiple mixed-media treatments on top of my background shapes. The effect helps to integrate our respective techniques and to bond the artworks as a \u201ctrue pair,\u201d to use Robert\u2019s phrase. <\/p>\n

For my start, I began with a section of an Iraqi newspaper brought home by a member of the Kentucky National Guard. Robert made use of clippings from a 1940s-era newspaper that he got from fellow collage artist Ted Tollefson<\/a>. \"collage<\/a>Our range of \u201cmerz-strokes\u201d was unfettered, but we shared a desire to \u201cKentuckify\u201d our choices, although neither of us knew exactly what we meant by that. Other ingredients include magazine scraps, printed papers, antique maps, used packaging, illustrations from discarded books, mesh bag material, tissue, fabric, plastic clasps, wood, gummed labels, metal, emptied tea-bags, produce stickers, foil, wallpaper, digital printouts, a paper doily, and more (with a modest assemblage aspect thrown in for good measure). As with any collaboration, the challenge is to discover a way to enhance the start in a complimentary manner and also to bring one\u2019s personal approach to the finish. Our decision to avoid isolation was a good one. Images exchanged during development kept the creative energy in flux and maintained a visual cord (a common chord?) between the surfaces as they evolved separately. It was a positive experience for both of us and boosted our enthusiasm to continue as active collaborators.<\/p>\n

Thanks, Robbo!<\/em>
\n <\/p>\n

\"finish<\/a><\/p>\n

Kentucky Sovereign<\/em><\/strong>
\na collaboration by R H Hunt and J A Dixon
\ncollage on structured panel, 24 x 24 inches
\n(start by Hunt, finish by Dixon)
\nselected for It Takes Two: Collaborations by Kentucky Artisans<\/em><\/a>
\navailable for purchase<\/p>\n

\"finish<\/a><\/p>\n

Kentucky Madonna<\/em><\/strong>
\na collaboration by J A Dixon and R H Hunt
\ncollage on structured panel, 24 x 24 inches
\n(start by Dixon, finish by Hunt)
\navailable for purchase<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cI\u2019ve collaborated with many artists over the years but never on a project of this size. The two pieces were to be 24″ x 24″ on structured panels. What made this collaboration successful was the interplay between the two artists. We both sent numerous pictures of our starts in progress and were able to play […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51,89,30,65,1,11,8,22,18,111,63,35,151,164,104,9,12],"tags":[155,90],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.xorph.com\/jadixon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5511"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.xorph.com\/jadixon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.xorph.com\/jadixon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.xorph.com\/jadixon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.xorph.com\/jadixon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5511"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.xorph.com\/jadixon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5511\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8343,"href":"https:\/\/www.xorph.com\/jadixon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5511\/revisions\/8343"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.xorph.com\/jadixon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5511"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.xorph.com\/jadixon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5511"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.xorph.com\/jadixon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5511"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}