RECYCLED SPIRITS

Forever stimulated by art from all ages and cultures

No matter what the medium or theme, over the decades and continuing to this day, a good amount of my inspiration comes from visiting museums, galleries and publications. Expanding upon the earlier simple collages of Artemis Herstori, I began to explore my own psyche, emotions, personal history, and relationships. These collages are complex and often packed with a variety of messages, ideas, and expressions. At this point in my artistic career I actively stockpiled hundreds of Christie’s and Sotheby’s art auction catalogues. Using Exacto knives, surgical scissors, and 3M adhesive, I assembled complex images often consisting of hundreds of partial images.

Being Gold

Topics included an homage to each of my deceased parents; the influence of Carl Jung on my self-analysis; the personification of my wife and our relationship; my own sexuality; and the archetypal sources of creativity. In hindsight I can see a deep exploration of various religions and cultures. Working with the art catalogues was reminiscent of my youth when our family took excursions to dozens of historic sites, cathedrals and museums of Europe and Central America, and when my mother frequently took me on outings to the museums of Chicago.

Professorial colleague and friend, Dr. Meg Black, interviewed me for the catalogue, An Active Imagination: Mark Towner Thirty Year Retrospective. About these collages she states, “These images seem to be a gestalt of Mark’s life story, he writes ‘I began to explore my own psyche, emotions, personal history, and relationships.’ This is his first mention of emotions, feelings often associated with aesthetic intent. In At the Forge (see above), which references his father in his woodworking shop, art nouveau glass seen during remembered museum visits, family travel photos, the butterfly symbolic of renewal, and the three nudes who dance in the same pose as the Centaur and Lapiths from the Athenian Parthenon frieze, one notes how much of this activity is happening in the underworld, a reference to loved ones gone.”