xacto + magazine
i refer to this body of work as cuttings, but i’ve come to recognize it is equally valid to call them carvings.
the gesture of slicing into and cutting down through the pages of these glossy magazines becomes an excavation of sorts; a sequential stripping away of layers reveals an otherwise hidden realm of fragmented imagery and juxtaposed colors. i should pause to note that these compositions were always present in the whole of the framework, but remained concealed and unseen in absence of these steps.
it is also worthwhile to acknowledge my approach is girded in honesty. no alterations to the magazines are made; no pages removed, no imagery sought out, no steps taken to actively steer towards some specific arrangement.
and while i am responsible for constructing the contours that define the initial starting point, i do not know where that progression will lead, nor what it will expose. whomever designed and laid out the magazine and its contents is responsible for the information already held within the pages.
my actions extend from the cutting point’s origin through to its logical conclusion. layer by layer, deeper and deeper, more of the interior is disclosed and becomes visible. in a larger way, coming full circle, one could argue that the action of cutting serves to uncover an innate truth, one that was always existent, but was previously invisible.
