Risk. It’s the fork in the road. It can be cautiously calculated, or recklessly gambled, but it will scare you and scar you and it will take something from you. It will also reward you like nothing else can. When we roll that dice, we are offering something to the gods, metaphorically, and gambling on the outcome. It can go either way. It is painful, and foolish, and also wise: after all, the greatest risk is not taking one, not ever trying because our effort could fail, not ever catapaulting headlong into something new. It’s a risk to ask someone for a date, and a risk to say yes to marriage. It’s a risk to give notice and apply for new jobs. It’s a risk to get on an airplane or switch medications or write a poem. Through unexpected juxtapositions and a mix and match medley of influences from art history to surrealism to popular culture, these collage paintings question the parameters of creativity, impulsivity, and how much risk we should risk.  

Lorette C. Luzajic is an award-winning mixed media artist whose collage paintings are internationally collected and exhibited. She is also a writer and the editor of The Ekphrastic Review. Visit her at www.mixedupmedia.ca