Lotsa Trains!

We have an annual exhibit coming up at our Galesburg Civic Art Center where members can submit one piece for the "Members and Friends" show. Since BNSF has a large rail yard here, I thought it would be fun to try using my shredded technique on some graffitied train car photos I'd taken last summer. (I exhibited high plains landscapes at the art center in Nov-Dec, so I thought I'd submit subject matter that wasn't typical for me in my new shredded technique that I haven't yet exhibited locally.)

At first I thought I'd need to take new photos that had the train cars all intact in the photo frame AND all with the same horizon line. Upon further reflection, I realized that might be too static, and having the center image be further back in space and the train cars cut off at the edges would give more of a feeling of movement. The piece is the product of both digital and physical manipulations of my photos. The three panels are fastened together by metal channel, giving a feeling of train cars coupled together.

My husband said, "It's still technically a triptych even though they are fastened together, right?" I replied, "Sure, remember all of those altar pieces from art history? They were called triptychs but they were hinged together. This is like an altarpiece for commerce." His eyes widened and he said, "That's a perfect title!" And so it is.

(Click on the images above to see the details a bit better.)