Dana Hatchett: Artist statement on Paintings to collage
Collages in this series (for sale) are at The Comma Fine Art Gallery, 3519 N. Buffalo Street, Orchard Park, NY 14127. Visit: www.thecommafineart.com
Next solo exhibit of collages:
September 23 - November 16, 2025
Betty's
370 Virginia Street
Buffalo, NY 14201
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March 1-29, 2025
"Painting to Collage" solo exhibition at The Crucible Art Collective, 334 Connecticut St., Buffalo.
In this current series of collage art from 2023-2025, I aim to demonstrate how an artist can transform works of the past into new creations. While reflecting on a series of abstract paintings I created twenty or more years ago, I realized I could enhance the compositions by cutting them into smaller sections and recombining them.
Three different types of abstract paintings were disassembled to begin these new works. One type was color field painting that utilized water-based spraying techniques, contrasting thickly poured surfaces with sprayed fields of dispersed color. Another was a series of oil and acrylic paintings based on bold shapes. The third type was a more recent series of oil paintings on paper.
I generally destroy and reassemble the work multiple times, altering size and scale throughout the process. I add gouache and/or ink to some of the pieces. The discovery of the work and its requirements emerges through the intentional recreation process.
My goal with this work is to continue growing, expanding, and developing differing approaches. I aim not to create merely attractive decorative works of art but to evoke complex states of mind that are unexpected and irregular by nature. The historicity of the pieces defines their potential interpretation in the viewer's mind.
