“Afloat” Image. Ceres Gallery. New York. Solo Show.
Archives for posts with tag: www.hollishildebrand-mills.com
“Afloat” Image. Ceres Gallery. New York. Solo Show.
Strange tree with woman mixed up in it.
“Afloat Image.” Ceres Gallery. New York. Solo Show.
A darkened movie theatre. Brad Pitt on the screen. A flash of the projector. A few people shown viewing Brad Pitt. Just happened to be Brad Pitt.
I worked as a publicist for Orion Pictures through my advertising agency for about four years. I was in charge of movie “stars” and escorted them through endless press junkets and trips to Atlanta to see the press here. Waiting in airports and limousines with these stars, one at a time, with a friend/father/ their publicist in tow. Sometimes it was just me and the star sitting together somewhere talking about art.
They are artists too. They make money fast and they are famous. But they are artists. So we got along very well. No problems like I heard other publicists complain about. No problems at all.
I guess this piece was done in honor of the time where I saw three movies a week as part of my job.
“Afloat Image.” Ceres Gallery. New York. Solo Show.
Cotton ball packaging as the moon. Nice fog in the foreground. When I did this one, I had just returned from a two week retreat at the Hambidge Center For Creative Arts and Sciences in Rabun Gap, Georgia. It’s reflected in the subject matter here. Calm. Peace. Serenity. Hambidge is a great place to work. I do believe the ether there is charged with ideas.
“Afloat.” Ceres Gallery. New York. Solo Show.
Orchids in the snow. How is this for juxtaposition?
“Afloat.” Ceres Gallery. New York. Solo Show.
I mentioned earlier I am building a new studio. I am waiting for the hardwood floor to dry, in order to put down a white particle board floor where I feel free enough to be messy. The space has natural light. Not quite the same amount as my current studio (which I will still keep) and it is equally spacious.
This blogging about my New York City installation benefits me, because I am ready to move on (or back) to painting, (predating my video days) using a much looser method. Going over each one of these tight collages helps me let them go. Let the control go. I love the wild combinations of things, which is a part of me and will not loosen its hold on me, but the execution will be different.
But, for now, by examining these collages, one by one, I am in love with this whimsical way of doing art. Also, how I put up a show, where the pieces drifted and floated around the gallery walls like objects floating on the water’s surface, bumping up against the shore. That was the artwork. The collages, components.
“Afloat.” Ceres Gallery. New York. Solo show.
When I worked on these collages, I would schedule myself to do three a day. I never worked on them all together. Nor did I go back and “fix” one after I had declared it finished. I would slowly proceed on one collage at a time. The deadline was about three a day.
But this one presented all kinds of problems. This one, I struggled with for days. I couldn’t get the “balance” right. Let’s just leave it at that. I look at it now and I am happy with it. Hard won.
“Afloat.” Ceres Gallery. New York. Solo show.
I am talking about these collages over six months after I completed the last one. This one has the night lights from Hong Kong as a background. And a hammock drawn across the bottom. Design took precedence, obviously.
“Afloat.” Ceres Gallery. New York. Solo Show.
Frito wrappers cut out. Floating across a background of Aspen trees. Some of these pieces have been sold (a lot actually), but this one was purchased by some very dear friends of mine. It will soon hang in their home in Los Angeles.
Now is a good time to bring up subject matter vs overall aesthetics.
These pieces, one by one, were completed with the main concern being, how the composition, color and design hold the piece together. How each collage “flows” within the square format. I do love the themes of natural disasters, bizarre juxtapositions, and pop imagery. But the main concern always is how each element in the piece “works” to contribute to the total image.
In this blog, I am commenting “after-the-fact” as a viewer. I am looking at these collages anew, long after I have completed them, so my take on them, (assigning meaning to them, etc.) is from a detached take, not from me, the artist.
“Afloat” Image. Ceres Gallery. New York. Solo Show.
Color blue. I have a preference for it. Doesn’t mean it works with paintings/collages just because I like it.
This, to me, expresses the climate changes going on now. Water, canyons, floods, tsunamis. I like the color blue here with the light dull orange.
Hollis Hildebrand-Mills 