Achingly Still, Mixed Media Collage on Paper

The Original

Achingly Still by Robin Rivers is an original piece of mixed media collage on paper from the Albertine Series. I created this piece using antique postcards, found photography, my original photography that has not been digitally altered, handmade papers, and acrylic medium. 

The piece measures 14×11″ (w/h) unframed. Shipping will be calculated based on location.  Please note that colours and contrast vary between different monitors.  The colours may not match your monitor’s display exactly. Additionally, copyright of my artwork does not transfer with purchase.

The Inspiration for Achingly Still by Robin Rivers

Paris, the city of light, romance, wonder. At times, it may seem cliché. But, what of its magic? Its way of drawing one in and reconstructing how we perceive the world? Through the Albertine series, I wanted to explore how memory and time fragment, reconstructing themselves into spaces that live vividly in our experience, even when they are not a faithful representation of the original.

Achingly Still combines a vintage found image of a woman along with an antique Parisian postcard featuring the bouquinistes stalls near Notre Dame de Paris in the snow, dried botanicals, ephemera, and handmade papers. It is a moment when Henri is walking along the Left Bank of the Seine after a heavy snow has shut Paris down and he is hoping to hear Albertine calling him in the silence.

Sources

• • Found post card, Snowy bouquinistes stalls near Notre Dame de Paris, Yvon, (c. 1920-30)
  • Orphaned cabinet card of a woman, c. 1890-1910, acquired via secondary markets, public domain or presumed public domain based on age and publication status. 
  • Artist materials
    • Handmade papers, acrylic matte medium; Original botanical photography from Robin Rivers

Note: I treat orphaned images as fragments of lived histories. Where identities are unknown, I avoid altering personal features and present them within respectful narratives. If a descendant or rights holder comes forward, I will update or remove the piece from my catalog.

Notes on Care

Albertine is a love story at heart. I build each collage from public‑domain materials—primarily found pieces, Paris Musées archives and The Met Open Access—and note what’s known about dates and collections. While the work leans into romance, I set Henri and Albertine within the city’s real textures: its boulevards and bright nights, and the lives working behind the light. Where details are uncertain, I mark them as circa. My aim is to honor the past—its beauty and its blemishes—while inviting you into a story that feels intimate and true to its time.

The Artist

Robin Rivers is a multidisciplinary storyteller. She explores cultural memory keeping and technologies of circulation—how stories and images travel between people and across generations. Her practice folds writing and original photography into her mixed-media collage process. She examines how documented archives and personal interpretation shape our shared understanding of the past and how preservation itself is shaped by power, privilege, and historical upheaval. Robin creates all pieces at Studio Albertine in Vancouver, Canada—on the unceded territory of the Coast Salish Peoples. This includes the territories of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.

Before you go, check out more of my work HERE.

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