colombiana
2011
2000mm x 2000mm
One of the great things about travel for me, is finding inspiration from different cultures.
This photomontage was put together from images I collected on a visit to Salento, Colombia in 2011.
One of the first areas settled by the Spanish, the locals have taken the traditional colonial architecture and added colour in ways which reflect their own uniquely vibrant outlook on life.
I woke early one morning and walked for hours through the town taking photos in a state of excitement, captivated by the delicious colour in the painted woodwork of the buildings.
I had a large, dramatic piece taking shape in my mind.
Returning to Sydney, I selected 64 of the best photographs to form an eight by eight grid and mounted them on foam board, before attaching to a large backing piece.
I chose not to painstakingly arrange the individual elements into a deliberate order as wanted to celebrate the randomness and individuality of the subject matter.
I made an oversized frame from double width glued sheets of MDF painted deliberately with a brush in high gloss enamel to relate the work as a whole to the individual photos.
The regularity of the grid layout and the square red frame counter-balanced the randomness of colour and position of the photos.
