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John Greiner
Artist's statment

It is through a Jungian, Jodorowskian psychomagical, esoteric process that I create my
décollages. Through this process I strive to get to a root, which is beyond the purely egoistic artistic creation.  I do not wish to be the master of the work, but I desire to come to a revelation through the work, hence to be the follower of the work and a conduit for its realization   I use original handwritten manuscripts as part of the foundation levels of the work.  These pieces are more often than not lost forever on the canvas, or torn away to be a part of the trash left behind, but they are essential for the underlying psychology of the piece.  It is through the distortion and destruction that I am able to create a new verbal and visual poetry.  The process goes through many layers built up and torn away and along the way I am able to observe many beautiful pieces of art that are lost when I go back and tear away again.  The piece needs to cohere as a whole.  If one section is beautiful, but does not seem to cohere in the whole and I try to build around this one part, I find that it leads to a dishonest creation.  In spite of the time and effort to build the piece up it must be destroyed because it is untruthful in its egoistic striving.  The assertion of the Will is a dishonest act in the revelatory creation of the décollage.  The décollage is created by letting go of the want to be creator.  It is in this way that a deeper buried truth surfaces.  Once that truth is revealed and coheres on the canvas the ego comes into play by recognizing that it is time to stop, the piece is complete.