Nine Way To Say Yes Collage Series

In my 2023 collage series Nine Ways to Say Yes, I explore where ideas and inspiration originate. The layered and juxtaposed images and text say “yes” to the creativity that comes my way. I’ve cut up ten bodies of previous photographic work (Mythic, Flower Bodies, Graffiti Bodies, Aphrodite, Fish of Atlantis, Women of Atlantis, French Illuminations, Fading Lilies, and Reverie) and arranged the images into geometric shapes and organized patterns that are overlayed on flower photos. I grew the plants and photographed the background flower images in my Chicago garden.

The large words are constructed from my cut-up journal pages. Each collage contains all the YES words printed on vellum, and the edges of the collages are finished with slices of a college essay I wrote on Proust, whose metaphors are visual and inspiring. The work encompasses three passions that inform my art: gardening, writing and reading. I’ve brought these elements together to create layered and dimensional works that positively embrace the many forms of expression.

This series is part of a larger body of work titled “Confetti Collages” where I explore the fragmentation of images and experiences with small pieces of photographs and ephemera arranged in dimensional ways.

Each collage is 12”x12”x1” and is mounted on a wood cradle board.