Collage 594

"... the whole of Moscow, all that Pierre could see of it, was one charred ruin." 

It was satisfying to move from the pink palette of the previous two collages to these blacks and greys. I folded black magazine paper to distress it, drew with ink, then ran a wet brush over it to make it run, and layered opaque grey vellum to invoke the sootiness of Moscow as Pierre sees it. The manuscript page I tore into shards, imagining the many sharp pieces of shattered windows and crockery strewing the streets.

Trish Crapo
from page 443-444, volume 2 of original text
collage, graphite
made 6/29/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 961-962