Why I Make Collages

Leonardo, Vol. 6, pp. 341-343. PergamonPress 1973. Printed in Great Britain WHY I MAKE COLLAGES Ehrenfried Viola* My life has been fragmented to such an extent that it is not surprising to find its reflection in my work. I spent my childhood from my birth in 1917 in the countryside of Silesia, Germany and then lived in the city of Berlin. The years under the Nazis between 1933 to 1945 meant that I was cut off from the mainsprings of contemporary art in other countries. The most important years of my life were spent in an atmosphere of senselessness and brutality beyond imagination. Still, I continued to function as an artist and, like most artists, I had a virtual arsenal of supplies, including paints, solvents, brushes, paint supports, etc. Obviouslythesematerials can be used to convey meaning when combined in an art object. At first, I drew and painted animals, portraits and nonfigurative subjectsin a rather traditional way. But I was disappointed with my results, for I felt that there were none in which I had adequately expressed the ideas that my life experiencehad led me to hold. I decided in 1961 to make a new start and I began by tearing up my drawings. It was then that I dis- * Artist living at 16 Weserstrasse, 1-Berlin 44, Germany. (Received 13 March 1972.) covered the beauty of the condensed expression contained in the torn bits and pieces of paper and decided to make collages from them. Examples of these collages are shown in Figs. I and 2. I then began to introduce bits of other things into my compositions suchas mosaic stone,roots, and bits of nets and of ceramics (Fig. 3). I do not consider that color has a primary structural function in my work but rather that it sharpens or softens the contrast between the various forms in a composition. I am satisfied that I have found a way out of the dilemma of reactions to my fragmented lifeby means of images made up of fragments that are integrated into the whole of a pictorial composition. I have not joined the mad quest for ‘newness’but rather I have tried to bring into being works that reflect, without ostentation, my outlook on life. REFERENCES 1. Exhibition catalog (Berlin:Galleryv.d.Heyd, 1947). 2. Exhibition catalog (Berlin:RathausgalerieNeukolln, 1951). 3. Exhibition catalog (Berlin: Gallery Die kleine Weltlaterne, 1971). 341 342 Ehrenfried Viola Fig. 1 . ‘Gesicht cines sensibleti Tviiirmevs’, colluge, 62 x 44 crn, 1964. Fig’ 2. ‘Moskaiier Tagebuchblatt’, collage, 45 x 63 cm, 1964. Why I Make Collages Fig. 3. ‘Restder Erinnerung’,relief of various materials, 175 x 66 cm, 1967/69. 343 ...