6 Questions for Artist Paul Plumadore

I’m delighted to have a chance to catch up with artist Paul Plumadore. It’s been four years since last we spoke, and I wanted to check in on the indefatigable artist and see what he’s been up to.

Paul’s collages have graced book covers, record covers, and editorial stories for leading magazines, record companies and newspapers. He was named “Upcoming Illustrator” by Art Direction Magazine in 1976, and he hasn’t slowed down since.

MM: It’s been four years since I last interviewed you (2016). At the time, your book Archive: 1957 – 1974 had just been published. Can you tell us about the books you’ve put out since then, Unthinkable and Anomalies?

PP: Unthinkable and Anomalies are both books that were long in gestation; both began in the late 80’s. They were put aside, reworked, and put aside again many times. Then, interestingly, they both came to fruition within a few months of each other.

Unthinkable is a surreal fairy tale about the power of thought and turning one’s differences to one’s advantage. At 176 pages, it is equal parts full page color montage illustrations and text in rhyme. It tells the story of Louise, an orphan who escapes into books and reads so much, so quickly, that the things she imagines start to manifest themselves literally by popping out of her head. Its resolution surprises everyone, not least of all herself.

Anomalies – an offbeat alphabet is a twisted take on the traditional “ABC” book, a black comedy with entries such as “A is for Atrocity” and “B is for Bulimic.” It’s both cringeworthy and laugh-out-load funny as each letter is revealed through a full page illustration and an accompanying rhyme.

Sample pages can be seen at paulplumadore.com and both are available on Amazon.

I have also just completed a book project with artist Brandi Merolla called NYC – A-Z. This is a more traditional alphabet book with wonderful colored pencil drawings by Brandi of New York landmarks and short poems by myself. It is at press now and will be available on Amazon soon.

MM: How did you go from a life in dance to being a collage artist?

PP: It’s a mystery, really. I have no training in visual art (other than every aspect of dance). One day shortly after I had chosen to retire from the Paul Taylor Dance Co., I was looking through some childhood picture books that I had retrieved from my parent’s attic. I picked up an Exacto knife and just started cutting and gluing. When I saw the results of that first piece, I knew I had found a new calling.

MM: What is collage art, and how/why did you gravitate toward that as opposed to other mediums?

PP: I actually prefer the French  word “montage.” Loosely translated, it means the combining of diverse elements in such a fashion as to make them appear that they always were meant to be together. My choreography was frequently inspired by movements juxtaposed with unexpected sounds or music. In this sense I often feel that making paper montage is, for me, very much like choreographing.

A friend recently sent me the following quote from artist Rebecca Solnit. I think it says it pretty well, so let me quote her here: “Collage makes something new without hiding the traces of the old . . . an idea of creation not as making something out of nothing, like God on the first day or painters and novelists, but as making something else out of a world already exploding with images, ideas, wreckage and ruin, artifacts, shards, and remnants . . . an art of what happens when two things confront each other or spill onto each other, what conversations arise from the conjunction of difference, and how differences can feed a new whole.”

This explains, rather well, why I call the catalogue of my work “Where Worlds Collide.”

MM: What is a shadowbox, and how do you decide a shadowbox’s design?

PP: A shadowbox is just a frame, but one that is deeper than an ordinary frame. As with all of my work, each piece begins with a single image or object that I find interesting. Then, I start to look around for one or more other images or objects that create “conversation” with the first. From that point on, it is more or less a free association experience. I never know where anything is going to end up. I just follow my instincts and try to keep the conversation going until a moment comes that I know it is finished. I also like to put my work out of sight for periods of time while in progress. When I next look at the project, I usually see interesting directions that I might have missed otherwise. Shadowboxes, especially, can be months in the making. Most of the shadowboxes I reconfigure are antique and often come with religious material, such as crucifixes or chalkware statuary. These I remove – I like to shock, but do not like to profane.

MM: How has your life changed in the last four years? Are you still living in the same place? What’s different, and what’s the same?

PP: I still live in the same wonderful place. Being retired and able to create art every day, I think the biggest changes I’ve seen in the last four years are the new ways I’ve been finding for cutting and reassembling paper. My most recent series, “Wave Patterns”, is a good example and can be seen at paulplumadore.com.  Another change in the past four years is my work has begun to sell on a regular basis in both galleries and at auction. That is very encouraging.

My years as a dancer took a toll on my feet. I’ve had two foot operations during this period and have now metal plates in my feet. It was touch and go for a while as far as walking goes, but Tai Chi and weight training have been a revolution in my life and I feel those activities spill into my creative life as well.

MM: Hindsight/foresight: Are there things you would do differently, given the chance, and what do you see ahead for you?

PP: I sometimes wonder where I would have ended up if I’d continued as a dancer. Dance, from age 7, was my first love and saved me from a mundane existence. But I have no regrets of consequence. I am very happy with where I find myself. Perhaps there was an easier road, but the destination has been worth any bumps along the way.

What’s ahead? To stay healthy, keep evolving and keep creating. I admit I still have some big dreams for myself. But, like birthday wishes, it is probably best not to verbalize them.

Read more about Paul and see his artwork at PaulPlumadore.com

Interviews copyright Mark McNease/MadeMark Publishing