Abstract Collage - Fissure by James Edward Scherbarth

A torn patch of tan and white with a gap opening down its middle, crossed by two thin gray bars.

Fissure is an abstract collage in mixed media on paper by James Edward Scherbarth, dated 2020 and signed and dated 08-26-2020 on the verso. Collage lends itself to the idea of rupture, since a tear or a gap between papers reads at once as a break. Here a ragged shape of warm tan paper and smeared white fills the center. A narrow split runs down through it, with dark brown visible in the opening. Two gray rods lie across the gap at an angle, and fine pencil lines trail over the tan. It is 7 inches wide and 10 high.

The crack is the most interesting part, as cracks often are.