St. Croix – The art of the collage is not an easy artform to master. When it is produced by the hand of a master artist such as Jeff Condit, a collage involves mixing up images in such a way they not only have a singular meaning unto themselves, but they send off a newly formed unified message to the viewer.
Mr. Condit’s remarkable collages succeed in titillating the imagination to a point the viewer is able to slowly move outside their single-image comfort zone, and be transported to a place where their vision of these juxtaposed images, taken in their entirety, acts to open up an exciting new meaning that splashes across the mind in a tidal wave of discovery.
Mr. Condit describes his collage-making as similar to assembling a puzzle. Images are carefully placed on canvas or hardboard, and through layering, removal, and reconfiguration, new connections are formed. The process is at once controlled and flexible, allowing him to manipulate elements until the composition achieves both balance and tension…At the heart of Mr. Condit’s practice is a fascination with transformation – how images, once anchored to reality, can be reimagined, reconstructed, and given new meaning.
The exotic colors and eye-watering flavors selected by Mr. Condit captures the feeling of sitting down to a wonderful smorgasbord of images that can be scarfed down in one bite or savored bit by bit.
There is so much going on in mixed media works like “Dazzled” and “Parade” and “Festival” that it is hard to not have the desire to jump right into the center of it all, loose yourself in the fabulous colors and wild actions of the collage, and work your way through Mr. Condit’s phantasmagorical worm-hole until you come out the other end, a bit smashed and banged up, but feeling just fine about all you’ve experienced along the way.
But one cannot live by collage alone. And Mr. Condit proves himself a master at whatever he chooses to present on canvas. In mixed media works such as “No Kings Protest Speaker” and “Tina,” along with “Kurt Schindler 3” and “Parade 5,” Mr. Condit slows down the pace to a single vision. In so doing, he is able to capture the essence of his subjects in vivid colors that explode on the canvas, and stun the viewer into taking a deeper look at how art can mystify and intensify our feelings about the world around us.
It was another jam-packed Exhibition opening at Sonia Nahar Deane’s wondrous Cane Roots Art Gallery in Christiansted. Her art emporium has become the saving grace for serious art enthusiasts across the Big Island. Cane Roots’ pristine white walls, spacious gallery space, and the warm welcoming feeling that Ms. Deane conveys to everyone who steps through the doors of the charming French-style building, empowers us all to take comfort in the belief: The Arts are indeed “Alive and Well” on St. Croix.
The evening was topped off by the wonderfully melodic and playfully soulful voice of Marisa Prince, and the soothing guitar of St. Croix’s bona fide music legend, Kurt Schindler.
Jeff Condit’s Exhibition “From Where I Stand” runs through January 2, 2026 at Cane Roots Art Gallery, 24 Company Street, Christiansted.
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