Two things.
Sometimes the most potent collages are made by combining only two images.
And, sometimes you want to transmute the underlying image and sometimes, like here, you want it to stand for what it is. The bee-comb head is an ad for the TV show American Horror Story. I haven’t kept up with the series so I can’t tell you what’s up with the bees, but I can hardly think of a better way to name the gun carnage and political failure we face than: American Horror Story.
(PS. Made this SoulCollage Card two days ago but given how often mass shootings happen in this country, it’s not particularly prescient).
I think your collage was a prescient act. That much more penetrating that our minds must process fear and mourning on a constant basis. I finally looked up SoulCollage last night. My painting practice is too slow, the subject matter unemotional. SoulCollage seems such a good way to plumb the depths – not too quickly, but more immediately. I recall your post and Mark Helprin quote, “It’s a mistake to think people are creative. They don’t create anything. What they do is rearrange things.”. It being Saturday, I may give it a go myself.
Oh I really encourage you to! For me it is both break from more “serious creating” while also actually more aligned with my view of the world (ie to think in metaphor and symbol) and my basic tempo (way faster and messier than sewing!).
Which isn’t to say you couldn’t make your painting more expressive and emotional.