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Five collages by GJ Gillespie accepted for publication in Rawhead: A Journal of Art and Literature, Issue Two, Spring 2026.
About the Journal
Rawhead: A Journal of Art and Literature publishes writing and visual art that explores the threshold between fear and beauty — work with heightened emotional intensity, what editor Caressa Layne describes as "creepiness and caresses, fury, fear, and gentleness — all the messy bits of beauty."
The journal cites Louise Bourgeois, Francis Bacon, Man Ray, Joseba Eskubi, Anna Weyant, and Jinyoung Yu as aesthetic touchstones.
Rawhead was co-founded by collagist David Dodd Lee, making it a natural home for mixed-media collage work. All contributors are considered for the $100 Editor's Spotlight Award. https://rawheadjournal.org/
THE WORKS
"Candle in the Wind" Mixed media. 14 x 11 inches. 2018.
Inspired by Andy Warhol's Marilyn series, the title references the 1973 Elton John tribute to the fallen star.
Gillespie translates this iconic mid century image into mixed media collage, building a distinctive portrait with found papers, tissue, acrylic, graphite, and pastel.
"Mister Twister" Mixed media collage on canvas. 30 x 16 inches. 2025.
An elongated, twisting figure in a state of dissolution and reassembly — the body both present and coming apart. Built with found papers, tissue, acrylic, oil and spray paint. Based on a sketch by Afro Basaldella.
The title references "Mister Twister," a 1962 song recorded by The Isley Brothers and others during the early twist dance craze.
"Moon Cloak" Mixed media on board. 10 x 13 inches. 2015.
Part of a series inspired by historic Northwest Native masks. The mask-like face with its hollow, icon quality creates a genuine eeriness — folk art and sacred object simultaneously. Made with layers of acrylic medium and mixed media on board.
The Northwest Native mask tradition spans cultures including the Coast Salish, Kwakwaka'wakw, and Haida peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast, where masks serve ceremonial functions connecting the living to ancestral and spirit worlds. This piece draws on that visual tradition through the lens of contemporary collage.
"Mind Out of Time" Mixed media collage on canvas. 24 x 18 x 1.5 inches. 2025.
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A spectral, liminal figure in a state of emergence or dissolution, built with found papers, tissue, acrylic, oil and spray paint. The piece occupies the threshold the Rawhead editors describe — between presence and absence, recognition and strangeness.
The title references Time Out of Mind, Bob Dylan's 1997 album — his acclaimed return after years of relative quiet, widely regarded as one of his finest late-career works. The album is suffused with mortality, memory, and wandering.
"Lady with Ermines Collage after Da Vinci" Collage. 17 x 15 inches. 2020.
This collage reimagines Leonardo da Vinci's Lady with an Ermine (c. 1489–1490), one of only four surviving portraits attributed to Leonardo. The original depicts Cecilia Gallerani, girlfriend of the Duke of Milan, and is held in the Czartoryski Museum in Poland.
In Gillespie's version, the classical figure emerges from a fragmented field of torn paper in yellow and pink this time holding two animals. The ermines, already an uncanny presence in Leonardo's original, becomes stranger still.
This piece is a distinct collage version, separate from the painted mixed media version published in High Shelf Press Literary Journal, Issue XLI, April 2022.
FULL VITA CITATION
- Gillespie, GJ. "Art Candle in the Wind," "Mister Twister," "Moon Cloak," "Time Out of Mind," and "Lady with Ermines." Rawhead: A Journal of Art and Literature, Issue Two. Spring 2026. https://rawheadjournal.org/
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