ASHTABULA — The February art exhibit at the Ashtabula Arts Center is “Geometric Collages” by Craig Mitchell.
On display through Feb. 28, the exhibit can be viewed during gallery hours Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Friday and Saturday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The gallery is also open before all theater performances and during intermission. Admission to the gallery is free.
“I began making collages in the 1980's as a way to do something useful with photographs I had taken that were, what I considered, too poor to show anyone,” says Mitchell. “I thought if I recontextualized them something interesting would occur. At the time, I was very interested in geomancy (sacred geometry) so I often used sacred patterns in the underlying arrangements of my collages. I used X-Acto knives to cut up my photos into pieces in ways that obscured the original image. Eventually I began to shoot rolls of film specifically for cutting up. I would take photographs of anything that had an interesting texture, color or compelling visual feature to add to my pallet.
Over the years I have also tried incorporating found objects into my work. I am a self taught artist and as I learned from experience I have tried to expand the scope of my collages and even attempt
representational images.”
An art opening reception will be held today from 7 to 8:30 p.m.
Visitors can view the exhibit and meet the artist. Light refreshments will be served.
