Collage Art as Spiritual Metaphor

The Nashville area provides a nurturing environment for local artist Melody Evans. Her recent exhibition of collage art at the Hermitage Library appeared as a sophisticated adventure, channeling a variety of well-earned life experience. Suffice to say that the material in the exhibit was quite unlike the over-glued, poster board project collage of our elementary school days. Like a well-made quilt where each clothe block has independent meaning and value, but even greater meaning as a whole, this style of collage art achieves more than merely uniting independent images into a new whole image.

Sometimes real-life experience, and the emotional aftermath, can either culminate in a series of devastating aftershocks or it may bring about the spark for creative interpretation that can offer platitudes of real healing. I am pleased to say that the latter has proved true for Ms. Evans who, many years earlier, suffered through the breakup of a ten-year romantic relationship. Part of her grieving process included a desire to randomly cut out what she considered meaningful images from magazines. Not yet completely certain of the intrinsic meaning of each cut out, nor quite sure about why she was emotionally drawn clip them, Melody decided to buy a canvas backing and then began to apply each image using a collage format and spray glue. "It was almost like God had a message for me in that picture", says Melody as she now reflects on the completion of that very first collage.

While living in a rustic cabin in Northern Alabama, Melody proudly displayed her newly fashioned collage art. Friends began to take notice of the roughly 22" x 14" masterpieces and were quickly able to find their own personal meaning in each picture. Further reflection prompted these same friends to ask "how much would it cost for me to get one like this?", but it simply never occurred to Melody to charge anything over the actual cost to have the print shop reproduce the images, especially since she was "amazed that people were actually looking to buy" her uniquely inspired creations.

The mature, yet sometimes whimsical nature of Ms. Evan's work is filled with eclectic mysteries of light and dark where figures and objects float together in a surreal dream. There is something wondrous in each Daliesque portrait that allows the psyche to reach the playground-of-the-mind in a kind of thought provoking jungle gym. "Butterfly Woman" is a visually stunning picture that is emotionally soothing as the central figure, an highly stylized Native American woman, releases vibrantly colored butterflies emanating from her core self while she attracts, and then becomes one with, a variety of symbols of nature, including fawn, flora, and a natural stream. Melody feels that this particular creation is the one that singularly embodies the reflection of her own soul, as a narrative for her own desire to live with a sense of spiritual connectedness and freedom.

"My whole life has been about my spirit.", as Melody readily admits she does not pre-plan the theme of each collage, but yet allows her spirit to reveal the project as part of the creative process. The onset of a "red mood" was the inspiration for the picture entitled "Sleeping Fairy" where a child-like fairy slumbers atop an oversized mushroom as a patchwork, bright red background becomes the mortar for the suspended images of angels, mermaids and the like, as smiling faces from the heavens look down on the scene in happy approval. The play of color against the intensity of the red background is mesmerizing, making it difficult to consider the option of returning to your own reality.

The almost transparent Hand of God appears to reach down to mankind in "Fall From Paradise" as the Eve figure extends her own arm upwards with a loving, yet inquisitive gesture while all around her the earthly world tries to come together in a new found order. Melody uses this same analogy to remind "when something is fallen away you realize how important it is", a fact she knows all too well these days. She has been bedridden since February 09' due to a severe back injury and unable to complete her beloved collage art. She continues to collect material for future projects as she finds meaning in writing about her present circumstance, voraciously reading with an infinite subject matter, and marveling at the generosity of good friends who kindly, and without requiring anything in return, take her to doctor appointments three times a week while also grocery shopping and running errands. Bringing by little surprises like her favorite Moose Tracks ice cream is always considered a welcome and much appreciated bonus.

Tips for collage art beginners include finding images that "strike your fancy" and then applying the larger images to the background, while layering the remaining images by hierarchy of size with the smallest in the forefront. When she gets back on her feet again, Melody Evans intends to host workshops to help others in their own quest to create, and find personal meaning in, collage art projects. "The biggest joy in the world is creating something and thinking it only exists because of you.", she says emphatically, with a true passion at the prospect of sharing her art form with both the novice and the experienced artist.