11/9/19: Collage artist Jennifer Murphy’s most recent project, The Shadow of Sirus, seeks to connect elements in our natural world in surrealistic ways. She describes the project as “wedding the specimens of the naturalist with the visions of the fantasist.” The artist explained her process:

“I collect used books and cut out the photographic images to make the collages. There is a quality of chance in the work related to finding the used books and also an acknowledgment to using recycled materials. They are sewn together and are not on a ground like a canvas. I float them away from the gallery wall wills pins to show their materiality and fragility. This also makes them more like sculptural collage. I also do work with actual objects from nature in other works.

“Although I have worked in collage since I was a child, I really began to explore large-scale, sculptural collage after the death of a dear friend and close collaborator ten years ago. This series comes at another time of loss, both personal and I believe collective. We now live in a time of ecological mourning and are in desperate need for paths to rediscover hope.”

– Jennifer Murphy

I definitely get her sense of mourning and loss in her pieces, but I also find them hopeful and peaceful to look upon.

You can check out all of Jennifer Murphy’s art on her website and on Instagram.