I don't have a whole lot of plans for 2023. Remaining sane is one of them. Retaining a semblance of health (the bar is quite low for someone like me with chronic illness) and functionality, is the other biggy. In any case, I intend to keep making collage because it helps me in the above mentioned areas.
I have in the works two series that I hope will be well received.
The first one revolves around music. Specifically, the music I listened to when I was a teenager. Believe it or not, I was an inveterate Beatle fanatic. I had a fringe (bangs, in the USA), wore round glasses (with no lenses), and spent all my allowance on LPs.
I bought all their records. Most second hand. I used to play them so often, it was a miracle the needle didn't go right through the record on some of my favorite tracks. In fact, I can still remember the words of all their songs even though it has been quite a number of years since I listened to them.
The series will not only be about The Beatles (perhaps not outwardly), but about those awkward years between childhood and adulthood, and learning a second language with fabulous music as my guide. I can't think of anything that exerted a stronger influence on me at that time (with the exception of reading art books). Music was a refuge too. One that drowned some sorrows and difficulties with loud beats.
There are some twists (and shouts) to this series, but I won't reveal them now. Sometimes things change as they become, so I wouldn't want to create false expectations. We'll just have to wait and see.
Another series that I have been working on behind the scenes (so to speak), is about words and the disconnection between what we want to communicate and what we actually say. I guess it is about things I always wanted to say but couldn't. Putting them into images will be, I finally realized, far easier. This series will only be available as originals, since their format will not lend itself to printing. Expect some surprises and some three-dimensionality. Enough said.
In between, there will be commissions (I hope), experiments and unintended diversions. I welcome them all. Inspiration comes from strange places, and often when we least expect it.
I hope you agree to accompany me during 2023. It will be so much nicer if we can share our discoveries with each other.
