BILL WOLAK | AN ARTIST’S STATEMENT

Everywhere we look, there are faces staring back at us. Out of the corner of the eye, we spy a wink from a passing shadow or a smile in a gleam of water. We project ourselves outward into the field we experience. These four collages record what I have discovered in flowers, hair, and other objects.

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. Sometimes it takes several days or even weeks to know if a collage is finished. Much depends on the kind of collage and the size. My photographs are usually photo collages or, if not, they in some way attempt to represent the figure, usually naked, using an unusual or unexpected approach.