VAQUERA SUDOESTE (HISS) original paper collage


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Size & Details

Size & Details

Original paper collage artwork on wood of Vaquera Sudoeste cowgirl. Day of the Dead/Dia de los Muertos woman in a black western shirt with snake shoulder detail. Contemporary western figurative artwork. All hand-cut paper. Finished in handmade salvaged tin frame and Museum Plexi.

  • Medium: vintage papers on wood
  • Size: 54.25" H x 44.5" W (framed)
  • Frame: finished in handmade salvaged tin frame with Museum Plexi
  • Hardware: ready to hang with wire on back
Story

Story

I am fascinated by the celebration of death in Latin American culture. - Dolan Geiman

Like all my paper collages, Hiss started with a base layer of vintage papers affixed to a wood panel and lightly painted over with white paint. Details of the original paper underlayer are purposefully visible. Look closely for music notes! The rest of the artwork is meticulously assembled on top using a huge variety of colorful vintage papers, hand-cut with regular scissors. The finished artwork is coated with a subtle, archival matte finish designed for collages. The frame is also hand-built with salvaged metal and finished with a pane of anti-reflective, UV acrylic.

For this piece in the Vaquera Sudoeste series, I continued to explore the interplay between light/dark, positive/negative, and life/death characterizing this Sugar Skull Cowgirl series. I continue to be fascinated with the celebration of death in Latin American culture. The dark coiled snakes are a menacing contrast with the bright floral details, just as the skeletal imagery (the skull face and vertebrae in the neck) interplays with the vibrancy of the piece. The tight curves and tiny eyes of the coiled snakes are also an interesting challenge in hand-cut collage.

Process

Process

Each Dolan Geiman collage is crafted from hand-cut vintage papers sourced over decades of exploration and careful categorizing, held dearly until the perfect piece arrives to claim their colors and texture.

Learn more about Vaquera Sudoeste series and sign up to receive first looks at pieces like her.

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.

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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.

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