Most of my life has been about combining unrelated things to make something new even though I didn’t see any of it that way when it was happening. Earlier in life I was a trader importing handcrafts from Afghanistan. These crafts were worked into new forms that combined traditional needle, silver, and leatherwork with beautiful items and gypsy dresses. Unrelated things that came together in a way that multiplied the effects that each brought to the whole.
Synergy and collage have been lifelong themes. What compels me is that moment when something unplanned appears—chance connections of color, texture, and stories that show up in images more penetrating than I expect. My hope is that my work reminds you of something true and makes you want to look deeper.
What I do is paint and collage into liquid beeswax colored with oil paint or pigment. Pouring, rubbing, scraping, gouging, dripping—the process is guided by instinct and the process is everything. The pictures that emerge and mean the most to me concern our borderlines and transitions. My approach is consistent although my content and process are always changing.
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All images ©2007 Gail Steinberg. All rights reserved.
