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As Above so Below; Collage Art by Jessica Ballantyne

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As Above so Below; Collage art by Jessica Ballantyne

I have been washed over with a flood of creativity these last couple of days and it feels great! I think I owe this inspiring frenzy to staying open, not restricting myself to oil painting, and with meeting and throwing ideas off fellow artists. I think the latter is the most significant.

jessica ballantyne, artist, collage, surrealism, surreal, legs, hans bellmer, mirrored, double, onion rag, lace, under wear, floral, wallpaper, art, montage, mixed media, artist, south african, contemporary, dream, step, feet, black and white legs, black and white, velvet frame,

 

 

The following pieces are artworks from my Legs that go series. The collages are the fist artworks I’ve made using that beautiful, stunning, wonderful, patterned paper as well as found objects and dried flowers.

“As Above so Below” is really vibrant with lots of textures and tactile elements….I wanted the artwork to beg to be touched! The method of collage is so different from painting that I think I may switch between them when I get fed up with one or the other…:)

The collages are directly referencing the paintings I recently completed titled “Legs that Go Go GO!”. I find the imagery of the doubled legs to be really expressive and feelings can be alluded to, based on how the legs are placed. For example in “Shy” (below) I switched the left and the right legs, which I thought gave them a coy, shy ambiance.

The frames are all flocked by me to give it a deep velvety appearance and feel. I make up the images using a combination of found elements like lace underwear, onion bags etc. and combine them with floral paper and cut outs of my own photography.

Because of the collage technique, the images are made up with little conscious thought. I have a range of materials which I place together until they feel right for me. The mixed media collages are light and whimsical compared to my more serious oil paintings 🙂

 

jessica ballantyne, shy, legs, lace, onion bag, artist, collage, surrealism, surreal, legs, hans bellmer, mirrored, double, onion rag, under wear, floral, wallpaper, art, montage, mixed media, artist, south african, contemporary, dream, step, feet, black and white legs, black and white, velvet frame,

“Shy” was the first piece where I incorporated real dried flowers into the artwork to evoke the senses. I wanted “Shy” to evoke feelings of innocence and purity but also to hide an underlying sexuality that is neither innocent, nor pure. The onion bag acts as a textural layer, hinting at the pattern of a fishnet stocking; a symbol of desire, sensuality and availability (in my opinion). The lace border is placed at the height a bridal garter would be, to add to the sign of sexual innocence and purity. I included three dried pink roses and a sprig of lavender to complete the piece.

I tend to gravitate towards themes of objectification and the use of the female body in media imagery, as well as delving into subjective experience and psychoanalysis:)

My work is available for sale, for more information contact me or visit my Etsy shop here

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