My primary medium is papier colle'. Using the broad chromatic spectrum of Color-aid paper, I treat this cut paper process as a synthesis of drawing, painting, and graphic design. The paper is my palette, the x-acto knife is my rendering instrument.

I learned this collage technique while working as an assistant to Robert Indiana in his New York studio on a prodigious cut paper project. Upon completion I returned to my own streets of Brooklyn, particularly Coney Island's amusement area where I found not only visual poetry to work from but also discovered existential messages surfacing in the most unexpected places.

The iconic architecture of the rides, signs and attractions as well as other forms of urban popular culture and the ornately detailed aquatic life in the sea are perfectly suited for my cut out practice.

I continue to create graphic distillations of the beauty I find in un-noticed spaces and out of the way places.

Thrills, wonder, memory, fascination and escapism resonate in my work.

www.philomenamarano.com