The Past Informs the Future 

Vicki Scheele | Costa Mesa, California, USA 

Vicki Scheele’s collage is an homage to the community of people who have maintained the Henry Sheldon Museum and the Stewart-Swift Research Center archives throughout its history. The artist wrote: “Spending time in the archives of the Stewart-Swift Research Center, on the occasion of their 50th Anniversary, was revelatory. This collage reflects my emotional response to the archives and archivists. Wikipedia notes that collage, in part, ‘results from an assemblage of different forms, thus creating a new whole.’ I came to view the Center itself as a metaphor for collage and developed a real appreciation for how the community surrounds and is informed by the archivists. “Two images of the Center became my focal points. The first is a drawing by artist Gayle Braisted from the 1990s, and the second is a watercolor from the 1970 Henry Sheldon Museum Annual Report. Along with several other images from the archives, I used found objects, images from books, vintage magazines, and my own handwriting. “I feel my voice is more powerful when speaking through the medium of collage and that my artistic expression is more articulate than my speech. Symbols are everywhere and handwritten thoughts form concentric circles. The center of the circle speaks to what is already digitized within the archives. Puzzle pieces speak of fragmentation, from past to present, from within and without the archives. My work celebrates the many lives brought back to life by the archivists. There is a tension between the subjects in the frames and an expectation of what is yet to be arising from what once was.”