For inspiration for this collage, I turned to the Nebra Sky Disk, perhaps the oldest known depiction of the night sky. It was used to mark the solstices and help the people of the time understand the world around them.
The disk includes the constellation Pleiades – the Seven Sisters – which made me think of my Mom and her sisters, seven sisters as well.
I thought, isn’t that what our elders do: help us set our course and guide us along our path?
The Clemens Sisters are gone, but their guidance and inspiration remain.
To begin the collage, I started with a photo of my mom and her sisters, one of the few we have of the whole group of them. Their mother is also in the photo (far left in the back) and one of my aunts is holding a baby (her grandson, I believe).
I enlarged the photo from a small snapshot to about 18 inches wide and edited out many of the details. After it was printed, I painted it and attached it to another piece of painted paper. Around the figures I stitched with gold thread, then added buttons and gold leaf.
The background is road map (at the bottom), aerial map (at the top), with strips of fabric around the middle.
This one is a companion piece to My Darling Clementine.
Medium: aerial and road maps, painted paper, enlarged photo, gold thread, buttons, fabric, ink
Size: 30 inches high x 24 inches wide on gallery wrapped canvas
Signed: on the front
Exhibits: Reverse Archeology, Joy In The Moment
