I made an amazing discovery when I visited Prague in 2002, just after the devastating floods. The small gallery called The House of the Golden Ring in the centre of Prague houses a wonderful art collection, and it was here that I first saw an amazing collage by the aptly named Jiri Kolar. The picture which stays in my memory, but which I have never been able to find a photo of, was the silhouette of a beautiful woman, completely collaged with old black and white photographs. I did a quick sketch - just an outline really, and some time later recreated my own version, using my own children's silhouettes and filling them in with scraps from magazines that they chose themselves! Since then I have found books about Jiri Kolar, and have now learned that he was also a poet and writer as well as a talented artist. One of the books about him, Jiri Kolar: Transformations contains images of the many types of collage he created and named. These include Chiasmage, Confrontage, Crumplage, Intercollage, Rollage and Prollage and so on - many variations on a theme.
Various internet sites have information and images of Kolar's work but museums in Prague are somewhat difficult to navigate and I still can't find an image of my lady's silhouette - will have to return there sometime!
Shortly after my return I started my Fine Art degree at the University of Gloucestershire and during that year I decided to make some work referencing this artist, not very well known here. I was lucky to find some books in a second hand bookshop near Tate Modern, and online research filled in the gaps!
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