Abstractions Studio's photostream

Elaine Kerr is a mixed media artist and workshop instructor who expresses her
boundless creativity in many forms: assemblage, collage, found object jewelry,
art dolls, altered books and handmade paper.

She is a discriminating collector of discards and castoffs. The materials she uses,
from rusted metal objects and "street junk" to delicately hand dyed silk yarns, cross
over from type of art to the next. The gold leaf, collage papers and antique buttons
left over from today's assemblage will be used for tomorrows art doll. Silk yarns used
for French knots on an art doll's body can also stitch a vintage photo to a piece of weathered fence board. Bicycle chain crosses over from altered books to earrings.

Poetic, humorous or poignant associations between objects are created, then transformed by painting, staining and gilding. The layering process unifies the composition and gives meaning.

"The interesting challenge in creating found object art is to invent interesting and unexpected ways to attach items to a support. The idea of re-purposing items for
uses other than which they were intended intrigues me, along with the 'alchemy'
of giving worthless found materials value and meaning.

I want the viewer to think and question the work, mentally unraveling it to discover
what is hidden amongst the layers. The pieces which I consider most successful
are the ones that reveal themselves slowly, in both content and implication."

Elaine teaches workshops in Assemblage, Art Dolls, Book Binding, Paper Making
and Altered Books.






Toys in the Attic, Beasts in the Basement Show