Last Christmas I made cards that looked like artfully wrapped packages. My favorites began to resemble ties. I like the play on words (presents = presence, even when we cannot be present this pandemic year) and the multiple meanings of the word tie including, obviously, the link(s) between people, real and/or imagined. Sources of inspiration include Brooks Brothers, Perry Ellis, and Giorgio Armani. We’ve been watching a lot of Italian TV from the 80s and 90s, specifically La Piovra starring Michele Placido and Florinda Bolkan, who could be said to be the Richard Gere and Joan Collins of their time and place.Some of these ties are portraits in that they look like something that someone we know might wear. (Full disclosure: a couple of these ties are in my drawer and I’ve given myself points for realness.) Others are fantastical, absurd even. Finally, in a year lacking in opportunity for formal wear, I wanted an excuse to dress up a bit. There is also a sharp-edged tactility to this work in that the edges of the paper are very pronounced. Some of the ties comprise four layers of 300 gsm paper each, in contrast to the super-flat collages I usually make.
