Portal (a koan collage)
This collage is a response to Sue Vincent’s mysterious photo (she has many of them…) below.
It started with a photo of a sparkly dress draped over a chair. I searched through my collage boxes, trying this and that until the world inside of the portal appeared. Then to the word boxes…
because of
not knowing how, there’s
always room
for catching
almost anything you want
between what isn’t.
Like the Magnetic Oracle, the Collage Box Oracle has its own ideas…all you can do is keep pulling words out and rearranging them until it’s satisfied. This started out to be Postcard Fiction, but first of all its size makes it more like Poster Fiction. But really, although I tried to tell a story, the Oracle usually has other plans. My daughter liked the art, but as to the words: “I don’t understand it.” Postcard Fiction has morphed into Koan Collage.
Here’s an explanation of the koan from the Pacific Zen Insititute: “Koans go the other way. They encourage you to make an ally of the unpredictability of the mind and to approach your life more as a work of art. The surprise they offer is the one that art offers: inside unpredictability you will find not chaos, but beauty.” Read more here.
And if you want to see some of the Postcard Fiction I’ve done (mostly for Jane Dougherty’s prompts) you can go here. Many of them are actually Koan Collage, they just didn’t know it at the time.
27 responses to “Portal (a koan collage)”
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- December 13, 2017 -
- December 14, 2017 -
I’m liking the non standard shape. I need to challenge my default of working in rectangles
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I like that too…my original intent was definitely the rectangle. But the paper had other plans.
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This must be one of my favourite’s, Kerfe. I love the picture… the chair looks like an elegant but headless woman… and take the ‘head’ out of the equation and the heart and soul can capture possibility.
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What a wonderful interpretation! Thanks Sue. These collages are an interesting exercise for me, they definitely bring out things I didn’t know were hidden inside…
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I always liked finding out what other people made of my odder paintings… it could be a real eye-opener sometimes.
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Throughly enjoyed your process, the unpredictability of your collage stash makes it all so magical. Thank you for the explanation of the Koan.
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Thanks Sharon. Much of life strikes me as very koan-like. But then I was never good (or successful) at planning.
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The collage is fascinating–it could definitely be a portal. The dress looks like a headless woman, but I’m fascinated by the portrait–is that her? And the seascape, which could be a portal. Perhaps the woman has a head there.
I really like “between what isn’t.” (Of course, I do.) 🙂
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Thanks Merril. It’s funny, the dress by itself did not look like it had a body in it, only a chair, but it this context it does look like a headless woman. I think interpretation of the images is flexible…in fact might always be changing…yes the collage word box outdid itself with that phrase I think.
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Context does change things. I think, too, that what we see in your photographs on the blog might be different from how the collage or other art looks “in person.”
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Very nice!
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Thanks!
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Wow! very cool
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Thanks!
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Wonderfully creative collage work – inspiring…. !
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Thanks. My collage box has been calling…
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Lovely post – I love koans. How creative to combine it with images!
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Thanks Betty. The world is full of gifts for us!
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Indeed! 🙂
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I do not know much about koans – can you suggest where I can find more info? Your collage is so interesting – and I like the headless woman in the gown. 😊
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There’s a link a the bottom that tells more. They are hard to explain! Anything that talks about Zen practice probably mentions koans.
The photo by itself was clearly a dress draped over a chair, but combined with all the other photos it change into a woman. It’s interesting what context can do.
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I really enjoyed this.
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Thanks Alethea.
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So creative. I love seeing your responses to the prompts.
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Thanks. Sue has great prompts.
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