TUFT
currency on paper
6x4 inches (15.4 x 10.2 cm)
$1000

The MONEY TREE and by extension money plants, money flowers, vines, foliage, etc... is A... maybe THE... central image of my currency collage work. For good reason. From the get-go plant imagery has been married to currency itself... struck on ancient coins in the form of laurel leafs round the heads of gods and rulers. Trees and wooded wild-men associated with the European Thaler, and the branch at the center of the rod of Asclepius which lends image to the modern dollar sign.

Modernity's favorite iteration of money... the paper note with its effusive baroque engraved decorations... often sported leaves and tendril. These were ostensibly present as a sort of official thumbprint... a visual complexity to aid authentication and dissuade forgery, but you know those guys really just loved plants too.

Plants and the way they grow offer a satisfying metaphor for wealth, opulence, and endeavor. plants are useful... as food, medicine, shelter, decoration, and construction materials. Our attraction to their forms must be bred deep into our animal brains. They are perhaps the first, the most basic kind of richness.

This is an original collage... not a print or reproduction. Its surface is 100% currency collage on Coventry Rag (a 1/32" thick 100% cotton fiber paper). The resulting semi-rigid collage has received 3 coats of acrylic varnish. It is signed and numbered on the back, and comes with a signed frame label to aid in future identification and authentication.

The collages are rather rigid and prop up nicely. The front face is pretty durable and the Liquitex varnish touts UV protection. I've seen people magnet them to metal surfaces and stick them on cork board too. And add them to 3-ring binders with other collectibles. We DO offer in-house framing is IN THIS STYLE HERE. If you'd like to receive your collage ready to hang in a museum-quality frame, just add one to your cart. Framing may add 2 to 3 weeks to the delivery of your order.

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