Torn Paper Paintings (Chigiri-e)
Chigiri-e is a Japanese technique, hundreds of years old, which uses hand-made papers and glues, along with the "energy" released from the "tearing" of the paper, to create two dimensional paintings. Classically, these images are made with Japanese Rice or Washi papers, some transparent, some with varying degrees of opacity, many hand-painted, which when completed look very much like watercolors. Common subject matter are flowers, sea and mountain landscapes, and animals.
Having been introduced to this technique several years ago, I recently began adding newsprint ad copy, and especially newspaper photographs to the classic Japanese papers, to create "torn paper" collages that are a little different than the typical Chigiri-e paintings - less transparent perhaps, and a bit broader in scope and theme. My technique first involves the 'deconstruction' of words and/or photos by "tearing", not cutting, the originals into pieces of various sizes (a process which I believe is non-random but not entirely under my own direction, if that makes any sense), and reconstructing new images from the torn pieces - images which often have little to do with the intent of the original photograph or story that contained it. I then use the Japanese Rice and Washi papers to highlight the new images, or to infuse color, texture or transparency to the final work. My pieces are abstract, landscape, figurative, and everything in-between, and emerge quite on their own as the work progresses.
This new technique has allowed me to work in a less confined way, certainly with less planning than the oil and acrylic paintings and drawings I was used to doing. And while I still turn out the occasional painting or sketch, I find these torn paper collages to be more fulfilling in the creative sense, less confining, more free if you will, revealing their direction and intent only as each piece of paper is chosen, torn and added to the mix.
I hope that you enjoy looking at these, and that you will read and learn more about the Japanese art of Chigiri-e.
Best Wishes,
Steve Palumbo
"American Chariot",
"24 x 30"
paper on canvas
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"Due Grotte", 30" X 40", paper on canvas
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"Diva",
30" x 24"
paper on canvas
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"Dirty Laundry", 12" x 24", paper on canvas
"Quid Pro Quo",
12" x 36"
paper on canvas
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"Biciclette 1", 18" X 24", paper on canvas
SOLD
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"Sad Viola", 16" x 20", paper on board SOLD
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"The Event", 30" X 36", paper on canvas
"Flamenco 1" " 16" x 20", paper on canvas
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"Galileo the Heretic", 16" x 20", paper on board
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"Accordionist", 16" x 20", paper on canvas
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"Watchmaker", 16" x 20", paper on canvas
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"Study in Pink", 14" x 36", paper on canvas
"Ribbons", 24" x 24", paper on canvas
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"Carousel", 18" x 24", paper on canvas
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"String Quartet", 36" x 36", paper on canvas
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"ChessMen", 24" x 30", paper on canvas
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"Find Yourself", 18" x 30", paper on canvas
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"First Day of School", 12" x 24", paper on canvas
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"Serenade in Eden", 20" x 30", paper on canvas
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 "The Orchard", 24" x 36", torn paper on canvas ON LOAN: G4 CAPITAL PARTNERS, LLC, ROSLYN, NY PUBLIC ART
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"The Mourning", 30" x 40", paper on canvas SOLD
"Anatomy/Dance Class 1.0",
48" x 48" torn paper on canvas
"A View From the Bridge: Williamsburg, 2005",
24" x 30" torn paper on canvas
On Loan: Public Art-G4Capital Partners, NY, NY
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"Bird's Nest", 8"x10", paper on canvas
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"A Cleansing in Quogue, 2011",
12" x 36", torn paper on canvas
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"North Fork", 12" x 36", torn paper on canvas, SOLD
"Manhattan Twilight", 24x36,
paper/acrylic paint on canvas
"Self Portrait as Toreador", 20x20, paper and acrylic on canvas
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"Salute to the Sun", 12x24, paper on canvas
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"Ancestry.com", 12x36, torn paper and acrylic on canvas
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"Casamora, Tuscany", 12 x 36, paper on canvas
"Study in Black and White", 24" x 24", torn paper on canvas
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"Suzuki's Method", 24x36, torn paper on canvas
"Ascension", 48x60, torn paper on canvas
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"Newport", 36x36, torn paper on canvas
"Totems", 36x36, torn paper and roofing tar on canvas
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"Mattituck Sunset", 24x36, torn paper and cork on canvas SOLD
"Round Three", 30x40, torn paper on canvas
"Metropole", 24x48, torn paper on canvas
"Saratoga Starlight", 36x48, torn paper and roofing tar on canvas
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"The Cellist", 36x36, torn paper and acrylic on canvas
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"Paula/Zen", 24x36, torn paper on canvas
"Yosemite", 36x48, torn paper on canvas
"Westhampton Sunset", 30x40, torn paper on canvas
"Invictus", 36x36, torn paper on canvas
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"Fall From Grace", 36x48, torn paper on canvas
"Benvenuto a San Fele", 36x36, torn paper on canvas
"Red Sky at Night", 24x24, torn paper on canvas
SOLD
"Museum Visit: P.S. 102", 48x60, torn paper on canvas
"Cherries and Pear", 20x22, torn paper on canvas
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"Madonna and Child, Central Park North", 30x40, torn paper on canvas
"Parade", 24x48, torn paper on canvas
"American West", torn paper on canvas, 36x36
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"Suite for Guitar, Piano and Flute"", 36x36, torn paper on canvas
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"The Rescue", 30x48, torn paper and acrylic on canvas,
"The Music Lesson", 24 x 36, torn paper on canvas
"Valley Stream", 12x12, torn paper on board
"Europa", 16x20, torn paper on canvas
"Reflections in a Lake", 24x36, torn paper on canvas
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"Junebug Jam", 16x20, torn paper on canvas
"Surfing Montauk", 24x24, torn paper on canvas
"Cimarron River", 12x12, torn paper on board
"Cannabis Fields Beneath 3rd Avenue El, ca. 1969", 24x24, torn paper on canvas
"Factory", 16x20, torn paper on canvas
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"Sunset, North Fork, LI"', 12x36, torn paper on canvas (SOLD)
"Jamesport, Dawn to Dusk", 18x72, torn paper on canvas (triptych)
"Contrition", 30x40, torn paper on canvas
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"Fault Line", 30x40, torn paper on canvas
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"Glen Falls, NY", 12x12, torn paper on board
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"Gunnison River", 12x12, torn paper on board
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"Colorado Moonlight", 48x60, paper, acrylic and roofing tar on canvas