What's it all about?

"Her Treasured Collection"
digital collage by Mick Mather

There's something about the subject matter that we, as artists, must wrestle with. If not constantly, at least at one point or another and from time to time. For me, the figurative work that attracts me is, in a strange way that I'm not sure I can explain properly, is akin to functional design. That is, the collage works that I create are not mere manipulations of existing snapshots of life, rather, they're a built environment and created with a purpose. That purpose is to tell a story, sometimes visually, at other times an image is accompanied by words. For a number of years now - for those who are new to this place and/or haven't followed the sliver of a thread - I've been struggling along with bits and pieces of three or four sequential, graphic stories. I feel like I'm making headway with one of them...of course, the key phrase is "feel like". Back to the drawing board.