S T E P H E N C . W A G N E R
M I X E D - M E D I A
Embodiment of Man
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PERSONA
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Characterization of Man
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Stephen C. Wagner’s mixed media works on paper show a keen eye for composition and texture. The papers used in the pieces consist of a variety of utilitarian and found papers, including maps, blueprints, book pages, foreign newspapers, and discarded fliers and signs. Original and appropriated photographs and words are often printed on the found papers to interject subject matter. Metallic pigment is painted on many of the papers to emphasize the role that light plays in vision and enrich the textural aspect of these pieces.
SYNESTHESIA
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IDENTITY CRISIS
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RESIST
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The advent of collage signaled a radical shift in art, in its conception, perception, process, & the end product. Collage expanded the language of art, allowing for greater diversity and an increased range of expression. Using found, fragmented, and discarded materials, mixed media collage artists work in improvisation and informality, often treating materials equally & reusing them regardless of their original purpose or origin. Art made of repurposed items gives the uneventful, the commonplace, & the ordinary a magic of their own.
Emphasizing concept & process over end-product, collage has brought the incongruous into meaningful alliance with the ordinary. The original identity of the object and it’s history is layered with new meanings in association with other elements in the artwork’s metamorphosis into a new entity. Collage is a medium that incorporates fragments and deals with opposing tensions, broken images, hidden desires, & collective myths.
Historically, collage tends to re-emerge in times of trauma and social change. Ideally suited to capture the speed, time, and pace of the modern urban experience, collage records our civilization, capturing the topical, the transitory, the absurd, the humane and the inhumane. Collage can use disparate images to communicate the unease, displacement, and anger peculiar to our times and often depicts our age of crumbling symbols and broken icons. Collage reflects the contemporary world full of excessive imagery and the cultural market of today as a global flea market; the Dollar Store, eBay, the dumpster, and the next Google image search.
Emphasizing concept & process over end-product, collage has brought the incongruous into meaningful alliance with the ordinary. The original identity of the object and it’s history is layered with new meanings in association with other elements in the artwork’s metamorphosis into a new entity. Collage is a medium that incorporates fragments and deals with opposing tensions, broken images, hidden desires, & collective myths.
Historically, collage tends to re-emerge in times of trauma and social change. Ideally suited to capture the speed, time, and pace of the modern urban experience, collage records our civilization, capturing the topical, the transitory, the absurd, the humane and the inhumane. Collage can use disparate images to communicate the unease, displacement, and anger peculiar to our times and often depicts our age of crumbling symbols and broken icons. Collage reflects the contemporary world full of excessive imagery and the cultural market of today as a global flea market; the Dollar Store, eBay, the dumpster, and the next Google image search.
Personification of Man
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