"Welcome To Heaven"

Spencer George. Welcome To Heaven. Mixed Media on Illustration Board. 2015.

For many of my photography assignments this year, I chose to study concepts such as rebellion, terror, heartbreak, and danger. This collage came out of a series of photographs I did which centered on the theme of Heaven vs Hell, and in turn angel vs devil. The original photograph was meant to be part of the angel photos, but when I layered the wings, it in turn blacked out my eyes. When I decided to collage this picture, I knew I wanted to have a focus on the eyes, which I planned to black out with sharpie. Instead of having white angel wings, I chose to draw black "devilish" wings. The background is a collage of different photographs of storms. Since Heaven is commonly associated with the sky, I thought having destructive skies would continue to emphasize the breach between good and evil. Finally, the sign indicates that it is not meant to be a devil photo, but rather that of a fallen angel. I drew the "Welcome To", and I think it gives it a vintage diner feel, making it seem like Heaven is an attraction, which contrasts with the mental picture the photograph inspires. Finally, in cursive, "I am crazy, I am free" is written over my head, which demonstrates that the figure in the picture is mad, but free because of the salvation of heaven. This helps to provide greater contrast between the picture and the concept.