In order to compose my pieces I use archival glue to adhere together fragments of papers, discarded ephemera, and natural materials pressed flat. Sometimes I make three-dimensional works, in which the impulse to assemble unlike objects also plays a part.

I think of the process of collage-making as a kind of meditation, or a reverie. Underlying that deep quiet there is a promise held in abeyance, and the questions: Can I keep this fresh? Using just these elements? Can I make it unique? This time? Occasionally the materials I'm working with just seem to flow together: total serendipity! Yet I understand that Intuition is informed -- even trained -- by years of experience. By looking deeply. Every day. By judging. Many times the process is total struggle; I'm forced to give up, retreat momentarily, the piece unrealized. I can't ever predict the outcome up front and that's part of the deep pleasure of the effort. Like the gypsies say: "Sometimes you get the bear. Sometimes the bear gets you."

- Dana Newmann