Originals

CUSTOM COLORADO BALLET original paper collage


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Size & Details

Size & Details

Original paper collage commission for the Colorado Ballet's 2023 The One Gala live auction. Features a Day of the Dead ballet dancer in a pastel floral dress.

  • Medium: vintage papers on wood
  • Size: 43.25" H x 35.25" W (framed)
  • Frame: modern black wood frame
  • Corporate commission
Story

Story

A special piece for a special organization

This contemporary dancer is a reimagining of my signature Vaquera heroine collages, placing this fierce force in a new environs. I endeavored to capture the fluidity of a masterful mover - and the power of color, costume and design - into an image that seems to extend into another realm: where is she going? At whom does she gaze? Throughout, I've incorporated subtle nods to music and dance, including memorabilia from the Colorado Ballet, to celebrate how the nuance of melody and the quiet graceful strength of the form inspire us always.

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 the making of paper collages here.

process

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.