Collages Rearranged by Chance

    My process of creation and the resulting collages are a contradiction of control. The instructions are intentionally planned yet contain arbitrary decision systems that force chance and randomness. This produces an outcome that is unpredictable though its general look and effect is guaranteed. A contradiction that is reflected in the improvisational paint on a printed magazine page and the flowing expressionist marks interrupted by a calculated mathematical grid. The steps are concrete, anyone could follow them and produce a collage, yet the instructions themselves are born out of my individual feelings and anxieties. Creating written instructions began as an exercise to encourage myself to physically execute a work. I would not be paralyzed by decision making and there would be a clear pathway laid out to a completed work. The incorporation of chance in the instructions and subsequent reduction of authorial voice simultaneously conceals and embodies this emotion. These tensions result in an instability: the collages oscillate between stand alone compositions and scrambled grids that reference their creation. It allows for an active viewing experience wherein the viewer can attempt to unscramble the rearranged collages. In doing so someone looking at the work is able to engage in a parallel process to the one that created it. Viewing and creation are equalized and the work becomes collaborative.
Collage Rearranged by Chance #5 (Art in America, March 1993, page 88)
Vinyl acrylic latex paint on magazine
6” x 5”, scanned and reprinted at 40” x 36”
2024 
Collage Rearranged by Chance #10 (Self, Jan 2002, page 122)
Vinyl acrylic latex paint on magazine
6” x 5”, scanned and reprinted at 40” x 36”
2024
Collage Rearranged by Chance #12 (Architectural Digest, Sept 1992, page 124)
Vinyl acrylic latex paint on magazine
6” x 5”, scanned and reprinted at 40” x 36”
2024
Collage Rearranged by Chance #15 (Modern Maturity, Dec 1989-Jan 1990, page 47)
Vinyl acrylic latex paint on magazine
6” x 5”, scanned and reprinted at 40” x 36”
2024
Collage Rearranged by Chance #21 (National Geographic, June 1970, page 765)
Vinyl acrylic latex paint on magazine
6” x 5”, scanned and reprinted at 40” x 36”
2024
Collage Rearranged by Chance #26 (Self, Jan 2002, page 69)
Vinyl acrylic latex paint on magazine
6” x 5”, scanned and reprinted at 40” x 36”
2024
Collage Rearranged by Chance #31 (Modern Maturity, Dec 1989- Jan 1990, page 52)
Vinyl acrylic latex paint on magazine
6” x 5”, scanned and reprinted at 40” x 36”
2024
Collage Rearranged by Chance #38 (Art in America, Feb 2026, page 108)
Vinyl acrylic latex paint on magazine
6” x 5”, scanned and reprinted at 40” x 36”
2024
Collage Rearranged by Chance #43 (National Georgraphic, June 1970, page 727)
Vinyl acrylic latex paint on magazine
6” x 5”, scanned and reprinted at 40” x 36”
2025
Collage Rearranged by Chance #45 (National Georgraphic, Feb 1979, page 236)
Vinyl acrylic latex paint on magazine
6” x 5”, scanned and reprinted at 40” x 36”
2025
Collage Rearranged by Chance #48 (Renee Knowles’ contact sheet, 2022)
Vinyl acrylic latex paint on silver gelatin print
6” x 5”, scanned and reprinted at 40” x 36”
2025