During my artist research I discovered an artist named Rebecca J Coles. She is a British paper artists who creates paper assemblages of butterfly silhouettes, which are then encased in box frames.
Coles was born in Bath, between the years of 1996 – 1997 she had achieved an National Diploma in Art & Design, Winchester School of Art, between 1997 – 2000 BA (Hons) Woven Textiles, Winchester School of Art, and 2000 – 2002 MA Constructed Textiles, The Royal College of Art, London.
What makes Rebecca J Coles work unique is the fact that she focuses on recycling a medium such as old magazines, newspapers and wallpapers. that would otherwise be thrown out. She puts a lot of time and effort into her work, as she cuts out each butterfly individually by hand. It is quite complex, she has describe her process as follows "I start by developing a colour story, decide on a shape, and then let my work grow organically" (1). She begins by looking through and cutting out various butterflies, some of her work is planned and based on a colour palette, shapes and sizes, concentrating on a original idea, whereas some is organic, as she creates it as she goes along with the work.
The artist has said to have a few influences, from childhood her mother has influenced her as she has said "she filled my imagination with creative projects"(1). However her greater influences are artists Wycliffe Stutchbury and Helen Beard who she has said to admire, and a fashion designer Jessica Ogden, who recycles and reworks old fabrics with an element of handicraft, similarly as Rebecca J Coles does with her paper assemblages.
Above, Wycliffe Stutchbury "13 Commercial Road" 2009, Discarded floorboards (left) (4) in the middle Helen Beard "Tall Beaker" Slip-cast porcelain, 15 cm height, 7 cm diameter (5) and on the right Jessica Ogden "SPRING/SUMMER 2006 READY-TO-WEAR" (6)
Although a large majority of Rebecca J Coles work is based on the subject of butterflies, for her the butterflies do not symbolise anything, except the fact that she finds them beautiful to work with.
The only real influence that she may have had of butterflies was in her childhood, when she used to fold pieces of paper in half and cut out butterflies. To her it's not actually the butterflies that fascinate and interest her, but the way the viewer, can be made to observe something that’s not actually there, or focusing on a small section of the overall image which becomes different when it’s dissected. She wants the viewer to look at something that was once an everyday item, like a magazine, and see it beyond its original source (2).
Here is some of her work bellow ;
Above Rebecca J Coles "Butterfly Box 09" (left) (3) and Rebecca J Coles "Stamps C" (right) (3)
The reason why I like Rebecca J Coles work, is it consists of such detail, every individual butterfly has to be thought through, like what pieces of media is to be used or where should it be placed, and yet her work reflects beautiful simplicity.
My favourite piece of work by her that I have chosen to analyse is called "Private Commission". It is a paper butterfly assemblage based on a green toned palette (bellow (3)
When I look at this art work, I see a large bundle of butterflies flying in circular motion like a spiral, and the further they are (smaller, cream colour butterflies) the less detail and colour you can see.
Yet somehow I can also see this as a close up of a green eye, with the black circle being the pupil and the green butterflies being the iris, as if with every single one of those different coloured, green toned butterflies put together create the whole green colour of the iris.
Yet somehow I can also see this as a close up of a green eye, with the black circle being the pupil and the green butterflies being the iris, as if with every single one of those different coloured, green toned butterflies put together create the whole green colour of the iris.
To make this art work a success, Coles had to carefully think about the sizes and the shapes of the butterflies she makes, to make the whole picture look appealing. As seen in "Private Commission" there is a variety of different shaped butterflies some small some large, this gives the work some variety, instead of being the same shapes and forms. Especially since the butterflies are pined down, making a 2D flat media look 3D, as if an illusion that the butterflies are floating in the air. She creates the butterflies by folding media in half and cutting out silhouettes of the insects.
Colour wise, "Private Commission" has a colour harmony, as with the use of the different toned green (secondary colours) alongside the light creamy colours, the colours of the butterflies blend together, creating a gradual colour change from dark green butterflies to very light (creamy) ones.
Coles spends a lot of time just planing and searching for the right media e.g. magazine pages, to cut out from, because her work begins by creating (as mentioned before) a "colour story". So it is very important that the colours used are complementary and similar toned, as the different shades of green, because this allows the butterflies to smoothly blend. By using a Black background as a base for her work, the artist allows the lighter butterflies to really stand out on the surface, making them look more bold, whereas if she was to use a green or a very variegated background, the butterflies would be bland and vague, and would not grab attention.
It seems like the artists work lacks a variety of texture, as generally it is mostly smooth or glossy depending on the media (paper) used. This is one of the reasons why for instance "Private Commission" regardless to the beautiful butterfly detail, looks plain and simple. Whereas if it consisted of some rough or bumpy etc. texture, it would add more depth to the art work.
It seems like the artists work lacks a variety of texture, as generally it is mostly smooth or glossy depending on the media (paper) used. This is one of the reasons why for instance "Private Commission" regardless to the beautiful butterfly detail, looks plain and simple. Whereas if it consisted of some rough or bumpy etc. texture, it would add more depth to the art work.
The most important thing for "Private Commission" and even other pieces of Coles work, is perfect composition. Coles has to carefully decide where to place a specific butterfly (on the base or the top of the pins) depending on its size, colour and shape, to create unity in her work, and make it appealing to the eye. Because if she was to just place the butterflies randomly, the whole piece would not flow together as effectively. Because as seen in "Private Commission" the bigger butterflies are positioned round the outer circle and then medium sized butterflies are positioned mid way, slowly changing to small butterflies in the inner circle.
It is hard to say what Is the purpose behind this art piece or why it was created. I think Rebecca J Coles, created this art piece because she finds beauty in the way recycled media can be transformed from a ordinary piece of paper/wallpaper etc. into something so delicate and exciting, making her work come "alive". From my gathered research it is obvious that the artist simply enjoys working with paper as it is a malleable medium, and it is something she used to do when she was younger, so possibly creating art pieces like "Private Commission" is so enjoyable to her, because it reminds her of her childhood.
Overall Rebecca J Coles work reflects an art form that is different to a typical painting etc. My chosen exam question is "closely observing" and I am focusing on the theme of butterflies and their colours, Rebecca J Coles work could help me bring new ideas and techniques as well as ways of presenting my work (composition and colour wise) to make it look more interesting. Because it's the little details and the way the work is arranged that allows to create a specific visual effect. I have already done a few experiments in her style, however I am going to continue experimenting with different types of media to cut out the butterflies from and different backgrounds and colour themes, to see what colours and media work most effectively together.
References
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