In this collage I wanted to celebrate the idea of craftsmanship, and in doing so show its various aspects. There is something amazing in the skill of an artisan and the manifestation of that skill. This includes the creativity that is undoubtedly present during this process. The crafting of a product can even be viewed as a spiritual or meditative process, enriching the brilliance of craftsmanship even further. Craftsmanship is something I feel passionate about, and so I focused this collage on its wonderment.
For me this meant honoring the craftsmanship not only of manmade things and inventions but of nature as well. The natural world contains wonders and marvels of such intricacy and beauty, and I wanted to show how this evidenced a kind of craftsmanship in its own right. This could denote creation by a Creator, or simply the evolution of nature itself. I felt this is one facet of craftsmanship often overlooked and so made an effort to include it as a major component of my collage. The center vertical column represents nature’s craftsmanship, as evidenced by such things as a wind-hewn canyon, a spider’s web, and the very universe itself.
The left and right vertical columns were to show the variety of man-made artifacts. The left section is devoted to buildings, bridges, and other large structures, including modern cities and ancient architecture. The right area encompasses somewhat smaller, handmade articles and inventions, such as blown glass, pottery, and a man making olive oil.
By including the horizontal section of photographs, I not only wanted to break up the vertical flow of the collage but to include what I felt was the symbol of craftsmanship – the hand. Hands are usually instrumental in the process of creating, and thus I felt it summed up what I was trying to express in the collage. I used photographs of my own hand to symbolize my own craftsmanship – such as it was – in making this collage.