Torn-Paper Collages
Collage Works
The Artist: Mark Walter Schultz
The Hands: Work Horse (right), Scar Face (left)
The Tools: Junk Mail, Recycled Paper, Found Objects, Snail Mail, "Yes!" Paste (and of course, Work Horse and Scar Face for the paper tearing)
Mark uses old advertisements, junk mail, letters, envelopes, and sometimes found objects or cultural artifacts such as emphemera and old media or toy action figures as parts of his collage works. Their colors become his colors. Their textures become his textures. And then he tears the paper, methodically, tirelessly into the shapes of every line, light, and shadow that he needs, gluing layer upon layer, and twisting their orientations until the precise position reveals itself, transforming seemingly amorphous shapes into realistic impressions of lifelike figures, objects, and landscapes.
His eye for color, in all its nuances, directs him to find the precise scrap of paper needed to fulfill his vision, leaving your eyes to fill in the blanks where needed. Many of his larger works beckon you to walk into the images themselves, sit alongside the figures, wave into their windows, stare out of their eyes, reach into their world.