JACKI BOSS

Why the deep-rooted compulsion of organizing smaller "units" into larger ones - I couldn't say;  though, the meticulous nature of the mosaic process is definitely a draw for me.  I have a history of working with stained glass in the Opus Regulatum and Opus Musivum styles of mosaic layout.  Hours of hand-cutting materials and piecing color patterns to form imagery has a relaxing effect. 

 

 

The practice of constructing small paper tiles to design compositions began with a need to recycle materials as fresh supplies were not readily available.  Simultaneously a desire to avoid the predictable methods of traditional painting for seascapes was being accommodated.

 

 

Already in the habit of selecting old watercolor sketches and rifling through scores of unfinished, abandoned works to tear into pieces for reconstruction into collage works (a means I have found to be intensely therapeutic), I began painting the reverse sides of the otherwise forgotten paintings in chosen color-schemes. After thorough drying, I cut them into 1/4" strips, and further into squares for mosaic compositions.  The seascapes series appeals to my sense of coordinating the varying sheen's of the paper tiles to mimic the reflectiveness of water.