Third in the Street Paper set shows the disparity of paint and paper. Far more images than it’s paint pair from the same year. It shows in my own work as well.

Which brings me to the issue of collage. Thomas Malic always tells me, “The collage market is down.” As if commanding the market is my goal. I am lucky this website is doing as well as it is. Markets later. More work.

So paper is the underdog. I always choose the underdog. It’s my nature. Always Anya over Buffy or Willow. Allison over Sarah. It’s gamma gamma gamma.

I love the texture of the paper and the use of large format photocopiers. The texture of photocopiers. The black of the toner and the self-printing is intoxicating.

It all started in my junior year of high school. A teacher’s assistant appeared from UNC-G. I still can’t remember his name. Robert maybe?

He opened my eyes to Xerox art and mail art among many other ideas. And I don’t think I have been the same since.

He helped me to create the piece that got me into Governor’s School. Another story for another day. His influence is still in everything I have done.

Oddly, I ended up working for a newspaper shortly after that. With access to tools that would further this kind of DIY art. Keep in mind this was the eighties.

Even then I knew he was gay. And he knew the same about me. It was an intellectual bond that really changed me in a few brief months. It allowed me to experience more of the world. It opened my eyes and set about everything you see now.

It culminates in these pieces. Made by different people from ideas I also had in a small town in North Carolina. I am telling you, I know this has already happened and I am just experiencing it again.