Broken Promises

by Jacqueline Page Sutliff

Mixed Media Collage

I have been a professional artist for 30 years - usually working on "serious" works, with episodes of deep play interspersed when I can let my soul and imagination fly and work with my intuition. I can then stop thinking about what message a painting is giving to the outside world; just concentrate on the inside message and the great release of creation. Trust that if I want a collage of paper dolls to deliver a message, then that is the way it should go. Broken Promises was composed after my last job was made redundant. It was a feeling of release and freedom - happy images of dolls leaping their way across the paper - along with the specter of doubt and hurt when an employer breaks promises and turns on you for his or her personal gain. The dancers toe a fine line between joyful abandon and hysterical motion, with a few broken legs and bent spirits in between. They can be anything they want. Go anywhere. Imagine wonderful futures and unfettered dreams.