TRAVELER'S TOPOGRAPHY II original paper collage


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Size & Details

Size & Details

Discarded vintage papers are trimmed, stacked and stapled, then each stack is deserted in the desert, mountains, and dry creek beds for years. I returned to collect this assembly of beautiful wind-worn, sand blasted papers made by nature, preserved as art. These pieces serves as a commentary on the intersection of humans and nature, whereby humans create an object and Nature, when left to her devices, carefully wears away at this object to soften it with her organic touch. 

  • Medium: vintage papers on wood
  • Size: 35.5" H x 35.5" W (framed)
  • Frame: wood frame with Museum Plexi
  • Hardware: ready to hang with wire on back
Process

Process

Several years ago, I travelled to dozens of small towns through out the west — rugged mountain towns, dusty prairie towns, towns with double digit populations. In these small villages, I collected discarded papers that I would find blowing around the street, then trimmed, stacked and stapled these fragments into small square booklets. Once I'd compiled several thousand booklets, it was time to send these little assemblages on the next leg of their journey. I ventured out again, placing each stack in the desert, in the mountains, in dry creek beds. And there I left them for years. Finally, I returned and collected those booklets I could find. Many were lost, destroyed, eaten by mice and insects, carried off by coyotes, blown away by the wind. But of those that were left, I was able to amass a collection of beautiful wind-worn, sand blasted papers that showed an organic edge. These pieces serves as a commentary on the intersection of man and nature, whereby man creates an object and nature, when left to her devices, carefully wears away at this object and softens it with her organic touch.

process
Limited Series

Limited Series

Each work in Dolan Geiman’s portfolio is unique and hand-crafted. Works indicated with “limited series” are reiterations of a recurring theme or concept.

A Certificate of Authenticity is available upon request.

  • Each piece in a limited series is created with an inimitable collection of found materials: no two are exactly alike, although they may look similar at a glance.
  • Details, colors, specific materials, typography and frame will differ from work to work.

Learn More

Dolan Geiman Paper Collages

Dolan's signature paper collage artwork celebrates America's West and Southwest. Color, composition, and detail come to life in hand-cut vintage materials, many salvaged in Dolan's cross-country travels.

Creating the original collage starts with a wood panel. Dolan pulls vintage sheet music from his vast collection and applies these to the wood, first with glue, then with a top layer of whitewash paint. In many prints, this background layer of sheet music peeks through.

Next, Dolan draws the outline for the original collage in graphite atop the sheet music.

Dolan returns to his extensive trove of collected papers – think magazines, antique textbooks, handwritten letters salvaged from abandoned farmsteads - and begins pulling the ideal colors for the piece. He cuts each piece of material by hand and carefully layers into the artwork. These collages are carefully crafted from thousands of small papers: no two are exactly alike.

Dolan's paper collages are finished in a handmade frame constructed from salvaged metal or a modern, minimal wood or metal frame.