About the art & artist

Luana Kaufmann's collages begin life as compilations of found images, created with scissors, paper and glue. They are discoveries of believable fantasy and impossibly-grounded dream. Next, they become the "printing plates" for a new generation of "old papers", as they are scanned and meticulously printed to produce (sprayed ink) giclees -- or most accurately: archival pigment prints. The incorporation of this exquisite, archival pigment + archival paper medium creates the ultimate cohesion of once-disparate parts, as well as renders them to be long-lasting, museum-quality works.

Luana Kaufmann grew up in the Greater Washington area. She attended and graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1979 with a Bachelor of Arts degree, having focused on modern dance, cultural histories, and literature. She lived in Manhattan for three years, relocated to Baltimore in 1983 and has resided there ever since. Luana enjoyed compiling multi-media dance-theatre elements for over a decade, and as she felt compelled to leave that medium, was thrilled to discover the possibilities of fusing found imagery. That fascination began in 1992 and continues to thrive. In retrospect, her kinetic-theatrical beginnings have been one of the informing forces in her collage work.

In describing the experience of creating collages, Luana says, "A couple of images gravitate to each other and suddenly state the impending theme. What was unknown and spontaneous metamorphoses into the known and deliberate. Allowing the components to have that initial free rein offers a mystery, a conceptual palette of infinite range, and access to the grand land of the psyche. And then, as pseudo-architect, -jeweller, -social director, -interior designer, -florist, -landscape designer, -milliner, and -chef, I do enjoy a little tyranny with my commands of placement. I guess it's a waltz of chaos and order. Or preferably, a samba."

Luana exhibited and sold collage giclees and talismans in many festivals and shows in the Baltimore/Washington area, as well as a few beyond. Some of the more notable venues were Artscape, Surtex, Nordstrom, and the American Visionary Art Museum Store and Holiday Market.

She now has her own gallery/shop Emporium Collagia in historic Fell's Point in Baltimore, Maryland. It is a collage, in its own right, offering an eclectic array of fine home goods and accessories, as well as her various collage wares (giclees, meditation card decks, and soldiered pendant necklaces).

Kingdom Collagia