An Art Series - February 21st
"You use a glass mirror to see your face. You use works of art to see your soul."
- George Bernard Shaw
An art series is a collection of pieces where the same technique or subject runs throughout multiple pieces of art. It’s often defined as a unified and cohesive body of work where color, shape or size may vary but a common theme runs throughout the pieces. Some have issues on the number of pieces required to be called a true series although this really rests in the hands of the artist.
No different than a series of books or films, an art series provides the viewer a more in-depth look at the artist's subject or "story" and it allows the artist the luxury to experiment and create beyond an individual piece. I believe a series of pieces whether two or twenty provides a deeper look at an artist's ideas or inspiration and each tell their own story while still being connected to the whole. Several pieces in my collage collection are part of a series, several of those series were based on my love of maps and remote images/air photos, all part of the field of cartography. The art above, part of the “Surface Mapping Series” of twelve pieces, if viewed close-up are 3-dimensional shapes covered in papers and old atlas maps and remote images.
The wonderful thing about any series...the choice in the end is in the hands of the viewer. Whether selecting one piece that has meaning to you and hanging it alone or selecting an entire series to be hung together in a gallery wall layout or hung throughout a room, the choice is yours. Even the creation of your own series of a series where four of twelve may speak to you...the options are limitless....