Discrete Art
© Ernesto Beckford, Chadds Ford PA (2021-2024)
Edenic.
Portrait of a young woman in a moment of simultaneous realization of self and innocence, as if she were Eve in the Garden of Eden. The artwork represents the interplay between discovery and purity. Handmade collage using paper, pastels, watercolor, and twine. The collage is a part of my series exploring the use of rope in artistic expression.
Collage Size: 9.5 x 16 inches.
Completed 2024.
Mars Transitioning.
This collage depicts a figure transitioning from female to male, blending features of both genders. Symbolizing personal transformation and identity exploration, it celebrates gender fluidity. Handmade with paper, watercolor, pastels, glue, and a thin line of rope.
Collage Size: 9.75 x11.25 inches.
Completed 2024.
Flowing.
A man, a mermaid, a fish, a being of indistinguishable fluidity – freely drifting through the dark depths of obscurity. Handmade collage using paper, watercolor, pastels, and twine. Part of my series exploring the use of rope in artistic expression.
Collage size: 9.5 x 12.25 inches.
Completed 2024.
Smallpox Blankets.
Native Americans in North and South America did not have immunity to many of the diseases brought by white people from Europe. American Indians were particularly vulnerable to death from smallpox. It has been recorded that in the 1700s and 1800s, white Americans purposely provided blankets to Native Americans laced with smallpox. The same occurred in South America. This collage depicts the plight of Native Americans, who lost so much during the period of colonization. The threads in the woman’s skin represent smallpox scars. The rectangular pieces, with colorful threads, represent infected blankets. The broken red feathers in her hair represent the false promises made to the Native Americans, broken and shattered. Hand made, mixed-media collage using bits and pieces of paper, watercolor, pastels, and thread.
Collage Size: 8.5x10 inches.
Completed 2024.
Roped.
Caught between modesty, sensuality, and sexual identity. Handmade collage using bits and pieces of paper, magazines, watercolor, soft pastel, and rope (string).
Collage Size: 15.8 x 23.5 inches.
Completed 2024.
Unconstrained Dreams.
The woman, in her posture and her dress, is constrained. There is literally a rope at her knees keeping her in place. The colors are dark and solemn, resembling a barren desert. By contrast, her thought cloud is vibrant, alive, and exotically colorful, with scenes that appear to be a wild forest. Ropes in her thought clouds (bits and pieces) are broken. In her thoughts, she is unconstrained. Part of my series of collages exploring the use of rope in artistic expression. Mixed media collage using bits and pieces of paper, watercolor, pastels, denim (for the skirt) and rope (twine).
Collage Size: 10.5 x 20.5 inches.
Completed 2024.
Up In Smoke.
An Italian girl sitting in a grotto, having a smoke. Handmade collage, in a surreal and cubist style, using bits and pieces of paper, soft pastels, glue, and old books that smell of smoke and coffee.
Collage Size: 11.75 x 13 inches.
Completed 2024.