Maureen McCabe (Wollaston, Massachusetts, 1947) is a masterful collagist, and careful note of her artful collages will uncover many intimate moments of satisfaction where musical imagery melts into her delightful compositions. Inspired by the work of such famous collage artists as Joseph Cornell, McCabe’s collages consist predominantly of drawn images, personal keepsakes, gold, silver, and found objects such as toys, prints, coins, tokens, cards, antiques, talismans, and magic relics. Nothing in the boxes is random; instead, each is focused on a distinct theme, often with the suggestion of a narrative. In It Takes Two to Tango, the title appears beneath a bar of music and above a miniature dance diagram with instructions for dancing a tango. A hummingbird, famed for constant movement in mid-air, instead sits expectantly on a branch, as though waiting for the music to begin. On the opposite side of this diptych a pair of tango dancers embrace passionatelythe mood is charged with romance. Likewise, Pennies from Heaven has a background of music from the famous 1936 song transformed into a charming tableau of a cherub showering the earth with manna from the skies. Finally, Ouija shows the infamous fortune telling parlor game with the plaintive lyrics “Oh, won’t you tell me oui-ji” hovering above a composition of four disembodied hands playing the game of spirits.
