Luana Kaufmann scavenges for paper with a ravenous hunger.
“I used found imagery in my collages from a myriad of eras and cultures,” she said. “Sometimes I wonder if I lived in another time because I?m drawn to old images and places.”
She uses hand- and machine-made paper from daily life to create surreal environments in her collages.
Paper, glue and scissors in the artist?s hands take viewers to a fantasy world. This exhibit marks the first time the artist depicts a dreamer with the dreams. The 21-piece show includes six recently produced collages.
Accompanying Kaufmann?s collages are 25 black and white images of Venice infused with a sense of romanticism by Hampden photographer Paula Gately Tillman.
Tillman shot the photographs on 35mm film using a classic Icon F-100 camera and included family photographs of Venice from her childhood, she said.
“Venice is a Dream is ten year project that started in 1996, based on childhood memories of being in Venice,” she said.
As an adult Tillman returned to Europe to capture Venetian scenes through an artist?s eyes, informed by her memories, she said.
“Visiting the Dojos? palace, the Piazza San Marco ? the center of Venice ? riding in a gondola, watching artists blow glass, watching lace being made; it was all very magical and I felt very small in this world of glistening gold,” she said.
The La Terra exhibit is a turning point for Tillman, she said.
“It?s a step away from the traditional look of the black fame, cream matte, with a black and white photo, and a step toward lithography,” she said.
Similar to a framed drawing, the result is a floating image.
“I scan film to a cotton rag digital paper, and write in pencil the title and my name on the front of the print, it feels more like works on paper,” she said. “The writing by hand makes the work very personal.”
IF YOU GO
Collage Giclees by Luana Kaufmann
Photographs by Paula Gately Tillman
Through June 30
The Gallery at La Terra
4001 Falls Road, Baltimore
410-889-7562
Kaufmann
Range: 8 x 10 inches to 18 X 36 inches
Price: $195 to $1000
Tillman
Range: 6 X 8 inches to 11 X 14 inches
Price: $400 to $800
