Jack Felice

For Jack Felice, what’s hidden can be as potent as what remains visible. His collages begin with found images—vintage magazines, old print matter—yet his true interest lies in the transformation: choosing what to preserve, what to suppress, and where to let silence intervene. He often works quickly, without lingering too long on any fixed decision, avoiding predictable paths. What he covers, what he erases, becomes a space of possibility—a gap for perception to wander. Beneath the layers of cut paper, tape, or collage edges, faint ghosts of imagery persist, offering a tension between absence and trace. His collage surfaces are materials: he cares as much about paper type, texture, ink imperfections, dog-ears, blemishes, and discolorations as about composition itself. Where he once discarded imperfect pages, now he celebrates them, letting the quirks of time and handling add voice to the work. The layering of tape—its removal, its revealing of white pulls—and the act of obscuring images both invite us to dwell, to peer, to fill in meaning. Through what is withheld, Felice cultivates openness. His work does not dictate a narrative; it allows us to roam the edges of image and void, to sense the ghosts between cuts and the space that emerges from erasure.

This collage developed through a fascination with grids and the limitations and confines grids provide. By overlapping certain clippings, a sort of circular narrative develops. What I enjoy most about this series is the limitless narrative possibilities these pieces evolve into. The view can move around on the page in any order they choose, and the narrative outcome can change with every viewing.

J.F.

For Jack Felice, what’s hidden can be as potent as what remains visible. His collages begin with found images— vintage magazines, old print matter—yet his true interest lies in the transformation: choosing what to preserve, what to suppress, and where to let silence intervene. Through what is withheld, Felice cultivates openness. His work does not dictate a narrative; it allows us to roam the edges of image and void, to sense the ghosts between cuts and the space that emerged from erasure.