Doug Adams

The original boxes had four panes of glass that slide in or out. I substituted the back pane with a painting and collage or a relief and then decided what panes of glass would remain. For example, in Box 11, I positioned painted paper and stone on a pane of glass, relating them to the collage beneath. Then I applied acrylic paint and metal to the front glass to add another layer to complete the composition. In Box 15, only one pane would fit as a result of building up the relief. But I wanted the surface of the front pane to interact with the relief and so I painted and collaged directly onto the front pane of glass. Thus, the layering of collage and the use of various materials in my other mixed media works were taken a step further when developing the boxes. The layers seemed to be pulled apart and suspended, moving from a two-dimensional work to a three-dimensional work. I hoped to achieve an interplay between different materials and the creation of depth.