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Carolyn Beehler's collaged artworks of travel adventures inspired by Vincent van Gogh

For American visual artist Carolyn Beehler, collage offers endless possibilities thanks to its "textures words and symbols that create layers of story and symbolism". In this particular series, the Music City-based creative shares her paper-based artworks inspired by travel – all using materials from books, magazines and brochures.

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Collaged artwork depicting a figure in a cluttered shop or market stall surrounded by colourful textiles, decorative items and layered paper elements suggesting travel and cultural exploration

From biking through China and visiting a family in Hong Kong to discovering the sights in Naples and Venice, these collaged, impressionist-style images are influenced by Vincent van Gogh and Salvador Dali – who, of course, pioneered expressions of movement as well as a dreamlike fusion of unrelated images.

Carolyn graduated from O'More College of Design in 2009 and spent the next few years travelling, including a six-month stay in Shanghai. Throughout her travels and experimenting with various mediums over the years, including pen and ink, paint, and fashion illustration, she kept pushing the boundaries of paper-based collage. "I wanted find a way to manipulate paper in a way that I did with painting," she explains.

Based in Nashville, Carolyn is currently working on her latest collection based on her experiences of living in China. Discover more at www.carolynbeehler.com.

White geese with coloured markings stand among lush green foliage in a mixed-media collage artwork combining painted and printed paper elements
Collaged artwork combining torn magazine pages in greens and yellows with layered, sweeping brushstroke-like patterns, featuring a small figure standing before a building in the lower portion
Layered paper collage featuring torn pages from magazines and brochures in vibrant colours of gold, red, pink, blue and black, creating an abstract impressionist composition
Collaged artwork depicting a crowded narrow street scene with layered paper textures in ochre, grey and white tones, people walking among buildings with clothes hanging from lines
Collaged paper artwork of a Venice canal with ornate historic buildings, magenta flowers, moored gondola and French flags, in impressionist style inspired by van Gogh
Carolyn Beehler's collaged mixed-media artwork featuring green-stemmed flowers with colourful blooms layered with painted brushstrokes and torn paper fragments in blues and whites
Carolyn Beehler's layered collage showing a surreal desert landscape with a glowing turquoise pool bordered by yellow, surrounded by fragmented imagery and text fragments in blues, greens and earth tones.
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