CellaNeapolitan-Collage

Cella Neapolitan

Fine Art Photography

ON PAPER ON NOTE CARDS IN JEWELRY IN COLLAGE

Home *Résumé* *Artist Statement* *Pricing* *E-mail* *CellaBrations Cards*	PHOTOGRAPHY IN COLLAGE I liken visual art to magic in the sense that there is something special, ineffable in the best images. They take your breath away. I have felt this wonder in some of my photographic images … in the taking, viewing and developing. Ten years into my career as a fine art photographer, I began to explore a new medium. Collage, from the French word for glue, has always fascinated me. While traditionally understood as adhering papers together, collage to me means connection … a metaphysical act of combining different elements into a coherent whole. It’s fun, too. Photography is fundamentally tied to “what’s out there,” with its own charms, challenges and rewards. Collage is freer, allows for more creativity and often originates in an idea. It also means the workmanship of risk and the hardship of relinquishing unique pieces. Even as I feel my way through the art of photography, I am feeling my way through collage and each piece I create. In the process, I am learning about the medium as well as myself. Some discoveries are not surprising … that photographs, words and vintage objects have emerged as common elements in my collages. Others have impressed me more obliquely … the carry-over of color from my photography, the expression of my love for order and pattern, an affinity for making things, my sense of humor and consciousness of being a thinking woman. And yes, there has been magic … as when an experiment reveals visual unity leading to a new concept, or when a mistake yields deeper meaning to a work, or when a removed element’s residue contributes to the composition’s flow. The whole experience is magical in sensing connections visual, historical, emotional, material, meaningful, and so on. And in the end, I cannot deny the personal feeling of magic every time I create a collage work of art. COLLAGES 2006 (click here to see these images larger and with artist statements) COLLAGES 2007 (click here to see these images larger and with artist statements) COLLAGES 2008 (click here to see these images larger and with artist statements) COLLAGES 2009 (click here to see these images larger and with artist statements) COLLAGES 2010 (click here to see these images larger and with artist statements)

Home

Résumé

Artist Statement

Pricing

E-mail

CellaBrations Cards

PHOTOGRAPHY IN COLLAGE

I liken visual art to magic in the sense that there is something special, ineffable in the best images. They take your breath away. I have felt this wonder in some of my photographic images … in the taking, viewing and developing.

Ten years into my career as a fine art photographer, I began to explore a new medium. Collage, from the French word for glue, has always fascinated me. While traditionally understood as adhering papers together, collage to me means connection … a metaphysical act of combining different elements into a coherent whole.

It’s fun, too. Photography is fundamentally tied to “what’s out there,” with its own charms, challenges and rewards. Collage is freer, allows for more creativity and often originates in an idea. It also means the workmanship of risk and the hardship of relinquishing unique pieces.

Even as I feel my way through the art of photography, I am feeling my way through collage and each piece I create. In the process, I am learning about the medium as well as myself. Some discoveries are not surprising … that photographs, words and vintage objects have emerged as common elements in my collages. Others have impressed me more obliquely … the carry-over of color from my photography, the expression of my love for order and pattern, an affinity for making things, my sense of humor and consciousness of being a thinking woman.

And yes, there has been magic … as when an experiment reveals visual unity leading to a new concept, or when a mistake yields deeper meaning to a work, or when a removed element’s residue contributes to the composition’s flow. The whole experience is magical in sensing connections visual, historical, emotional, material, meaningful, and so on. And in the end, I cannot deny the personal feeling of magic every time I create a collage work of art.