HANDS-ON COLLAGE
The hands are an indispensable tool for many people, from laborers, to typists, chefs, to artists. Our hands are constantly in action, always in the act of doing something whether we are or not. They often run on auto like the thoughts that run through our minds. They are full of vitality of their own...they hold ideas, memories and experiences not just sensations.
They are the way we connect with our world, and allow us to respond to the world in often inexplicable ways, only reverberated through our sensitive finger tips. They are a unique and very human attribute, they allow us record our thoughts by writing and allow us express our emotions while we talk. They speak in temperature, in pressure and in pain. They do not always respond the way we want, can be careless, trembling or used in vain. Every child must hone the skills of their hands and learn to hold a pencil in their own way, and every task the hands attempt is a new task to overcome no matter how familiar it may be.
Hand-drawing over Vandyke print 335, 2017.
The hands are part of our human spirit, they allow us to channel and manipulate our world. Sometime it can be a difficult task to train the hand and the mind that controls it, but it is the struggle and tension of the hand when under control that creates beauty and make something remarkable. From an artists perspective, idle hands can be just as productive.
This new collage is an exploration of the physically engaged hands, and they way they must be controlled yet relaxed in a concentrated task.
It questions the difference between an idle hand and one that is in action, and whether hands can ever really be idle even in our sleep? Are the hands we use always a response to what is happening in our minds, or do they engage in the world on their own?
It can be difficult to jump into a new project especially one that requires repeated manual labor, and this collage tries to respond to that very trepidation that comes with starting a new artwork. Only by slowing down and appreciating the form and gesture of the hand on a personal level was I able to concentrate and guide my hand into doing the work, and gain valuable practice and experience.