Lisa Fabiano - Merge

Before the emergence of European and Euro-American “Abstract Art”, indigenous peoples and small immigrant communities used color and simple geometric shapes as abstract motifs in their creative work. In weaving and quilt-making, for example, specific colors and patterns were used not only to create aesthetically pleasing designs, but also as indicators of place, time, and culture. There was a strong interplay of shapes, colors, and thoughtful placement. Meaning could be found in the motifs. For the work in this series, I painted over a collection of eco-friendly papers, cutting and arranging them into collages, merging modern abstraction with some graphic elements of Southwestern tribal weaving, some aspects of traditional Pennsylvania quilt-making, and some principles of Japanese design. I describe these collages as constructed paintings, connecting diverse cultures across time, through abstraction in creative expression.