Geoff Wonnacott

Geoff Wonnacott
Kinburn, Ontario, Canada

STATEMENT

I have been creating collage works for many years. I visit thrift shops frequently, not necessarily with the purpose of acquiring collage material, but often as I leaf through books or magazines I can’t help myself. I’m drawn to various qualities in the pictures by recognition of their potential. This is why I have very extensive files of cut and sorted bits of paper; colours, textures, odd things.

I work in a large(ish) format. It presents its own challenges. I like to assemble a coherent image and to achieve this I consider things like foreground, background, scale, proportion, colour perspective, and sequence of application. Drawing from my resources, I can paste up an assortment of material selected by some glimmering green light of subconscious approval. However odd the result, I strive to make something unique. Maybe serious, funny, provocative, but overall an image that is recognizable and can resonate with the viewer.

Recently, I have been adding to a series of images in a file I created called the National Portrait Gallery. This is entirely apolitical, and the name has more to do with a musty old controversy regarding a proposal for a federal (Canada) national portrait gallery. Cost, available space, and a potentially boring subject matter derailed the project. Tired of all the discussion surrounding this, I took the name with the thought that at least I could make a gallery that contained subjects that were entertaining, mysterious, flamboyant, colourful, and fun.

While maintaining a typical mug shot format, the portraits emerge from the depths of my files and imagination. When completed, it is as though I have found someone. Naming them is more than just giving the work a title. It is creating an identity, a personality, a rallying point for queries. Do I know this person or somebody like that? Maybe some characteristic of the portrait reminds me of someone. There is a connection between the portrait and myself. It’s as simple as the three “R’s.” But this is not Reading, w’Riting, and a’Rithmetic; it’s more like Recognition, Resonance, and Relationship.

BIO

Geoff Wonnacott lives in Kinburn, a small village west of Ottawa, Canada. He is a self-employed artist-contractor, fabricating and installing exhibit components for museums and galleries. In the past, he maintained a long-standing position as Head of Exhibition Preparation with the Canadian Museum of History (née Canadian Museum of Civilization). As an artist, his work includes performance, documents, sculpture, photography, and collage. Geoff’s work has been exhibited virtually and physically in Europe, the United States, and Canada.

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