Tag Archives: Ben Black Elk

It’s a Wrap…

Posted on by

When I started making bundles they were based on a loose, uneducated, shallow, interpretation of Sioux medicine bundles that were mentioned to me by my Sioux mentor, Ben Black Elk. Everything he said impressed me. I was in my early teens when he lived in Keystone just across the creek from us during the summers and posed for tourists at Mount Rushmore.

I’ve done many bundles since 1985 when I introduced them at the Peppertree Ranch show, in the Santa Ynez Valley, north of my home in Los Angeles. Now they only relate to Medicine Bundles because in the primitive years they were the impetus. I describe them in many ways now, wraps, bunches, assemblies, packages, groupings, batches, collections, accumulations, and sometimes, they’re … well, bundles.

I make inventories of paper sculpture versions of feathers, leaves, horns, weavings, insects, plants, symbols, and many other elements that are cut, manipulated, painted, and put away in pizza boxes for future use. I draw upon these inventories when attempting to assemble something.

These are some of the contents of one of the pizza boxes before brushing off the crumbs and painting.

These are some of the contents of one of the pizza boxes before brushing off the crumbs and painting.

IMG_0866

They become collage in dimension without much attention to content or reality. In Butterfly Bundle, are the wings enormous or is the bundle very tiny on normal size butterfly wings? Who cares, not me. I collage elements because they fit, seem right, make a statement, or complete an idea. And, remember, at my age, it has to be fun or funny…

IMG_0868

I never know how to title a piece of art. In the early 60s I went to a gallery opening on La Cienega Blvd. on a Friday night art walk. Richard Rubens, a great painting instructor at The Chouinard Art Institute was showing, and one of the works was titled, “In back of beyond.” I was so impressed, and don’t think I have ever reached that level of clever obscurity. I have tried. Oh man how I’ve tried. The bundle pictured above is called, “Good Fortune.”

IMG_0863

Maybe I should have titled this, “The Underbelly of Autumn”. Instead it’s called, “Autumn Bundle.” My titles are so prosaic, you would think I’m trying to sell the stuff off of a chain link fence.

White Tail Bundle

White Tail Bundle

Here for your musical enjoyment are a number of badly titled bundles that shall remain title-free in this post. I’ll be your entertainer here for the unforeseeable future and I’ll come back when I can’t stay so long. Don’t forget to tip your waitress. Good evening.

IMG_0718

IMG_0714

IMG_0114 (1)

At this time I want to thank the many friends who save their pizza boxes for me for without them there would be no filing system and more paper all over the place.

Thanks for visiting me …

leo

P.S. My work is at the Grovewood Gallery in Asheville, NC. Also, I will soon have new work in the Asheville Airport Gallery.

Scraps

Posted on by

When I work, I never throw away the scraps of painted or specialty paper. I have boxes of trimmings and the detritus of my efforts while making paper sculpture and collage.
IMG_0753I am the paper garbage collector and hoarder. I have large inventories of cut paper feathers, leaves, flowers, pots&pans, weavings and various shapes, some painted and some unpainted. I cut and paint way more than I need for projects and I select and assemble from these inventories.
IMG_0733

The Andrew Charles Gallery asked if I might have something that would fit the theme of their next show, which was, “False Faces.” In the past I had done two series of paper sculpture/collage images called, “Faces From the Past” and “Painted Faces,” both based on my friendship with Ben Black Elk, who had a fabulous, lined, and wrinkled face.
Ben Black Elk for Website

I said that I could get one done for the show, but I produced four finished faces and pieces and parts for several more. I clawed my way, picked&sorted, cut&snipped, pushed&pulled, fitted&fiddled, and foundmyway through boxes of visual trash, some 20 years old.IMG_0743

There were so many options that it took longer to assemble the faces than I thought it would. The fantastic, visual scraps covered every table in my studio and eventually were all over the floor. I was on a high and in a rush because Robert Reitz had to have a month to fit me into his framing schedule and build the shadow boxes.
IMG_0772

This was pure, unplanned, graphic fun. I finally produced four, dynamic, lick and stick, collage/paper sculptures, and I’m going to continue to produce a few more fantasy faces, that I’ll spring on you in the future.

There is a closing party at the Andrew Charles Gallery on Thurs., Nov., 6th from 5 to 8pm…

Thanks for visiting me.

leo f. monahan

P.S. The Weaverville Art Safari is this weekend. Come by and see some sketches I’ve been working on. They’re 9×12, unframed, $75.

photo

Also, the next level two Unexpected Image class is Sat. Nov. 8th from 11:30am to 5:00pm… This is a continuation of collage composition, focusing on making masks to go along with the “False Faces” theme at the Andrew Charles Gallery. Call 828.989.0111 to register. There are four spaces left.