In the exquisite corpse project, I received a piece from Alex which showed a man carrying a bottle, walking away from a small house. The house provided the starting point for my own piece, which shows a row of nearly identical houses on a street. The imagery on both sides is quite similar, but lines up as if looking through a row of houses toward the next. I used Alex’s illustration of light pouring through windows as a jumping off point for my own depiction of artificial light in the late afternoon.
The sense of isolation and strange darkness present in Alex’s illustration also carries over into my own, although subject matter is very different. By creating cookie-cutter houses out of a digital collage (a technique also used in the prior piece) of suburban scenery, I attempt to capture multiple levels of monotony, similarity, and familiarity, which together provide a tension between comfort and uneasiness for the viewer.
The piece was collaged by hand using multiple types of paper, printed imagery, and ink coloring.
February 5th, 2015
by Elise Mortensen
Sad Suburbs
Elise Mortensen, January 2015
Sad Suburbs: 10.75″ x 5.75″
Collaged image, scanned and digitally printed.
In the exquisite corpse project, I received a piece from Alex which showed a man carrying a bottle, walking away from a small house. The house provided the starting point for my own piece, which shows a row of nearly identical houses on a street. The imagery on both sides is quite similar, but lines up as if looking through a row of houses toward the next. I used Alex’s illustration of light pouring through windows as a jumping off point for my own depiction of artificial light in the late afternoon.
The sense of isolation and strange darkness present in Alex’s illustration also carries over into my own, although subject matter is very different. By creating cookie-cutter houses out of a digital collage (a technique also used in the prior piece) of suburban scenery, I attempt to capture multiple levels of monotony, similarity, and familiarity, which together provide a tension between comfort and uneasiness for the viewer.
The piece was collaged by hand using multiple types of paper, printed imagery, and ink coloring.
Process:
Inspiration Thumbnail
Process 1: Materials
Process 2: Window Light
Process 3: Original Piece
Final:
Final: Side 1
Final: Side 2