Image Pictured Above: “When Summer Unlocked All the Doors”
The joy of collage is finding the endless connections between seemingly unrelated things. In some collages, the juxtaposition of ordinary with the delirious diversity of dream imagery forces the mind to make contact with the marvelous.
Each collage is an invitation to view the world differently. What is most unexpected suddenly becomes as familiar as an old friend’s favorite song.
I make collages out of all kinds of materials. Most are made out of paper engravings.
Many collages are digitally generated or enhanced. To begin a piece, I select some sources—either color or black and white. If I’m using magazines or prints or old books, I cut out some images or parts of images that interest me.
Then I start working on a background or some other sort of chance construction. Much is left to fleeting insights.
These are tiny miracles of inspiration. Depending on whether I’m using scissors and glue or digital images, each collage could take several hours.
***
Bill Wolak has just published his eighteenth book of poetry entitled All the Wind’s Unfinished Kisses with Ekstasis Editions. His collages have appeared as cover art for such magazines as Phoebe, Harbinger Asylum, Baldhip Magazine, Barfly Poetry Magazine, Ragazine, Cardinal Sins, Pithead Chapel, The Wire’s Dream, Thirteen Ways Magazine, Phantom Kangaroo, Rathalla Review, Free Lit Magazine, The Magnolia Review, Typehouse Magazine, and Flare Magazine.
This is his second feature in The Fictional Café. You can see his first here.
Very fine work, Bill. Nice to have you exhibiting at the Cafe again!
Excitingly different! Thank you.