Collage was at the heart of Sandra Blow’s work from the 1970s and by the 1980s, the process of stapling strips of coloured paper or canvas cut-outs to her supports was central to her practice. While always prioritising structure over colour, Blow considered these pieces of acrylic collage as ‘mobile elements’ and would place them in various configurations, even rotating the canvas itself until her perfect balance, of colour and structure, had been attained. She would often work on canvases for extended periods; indeed Blow started work on Red, White and Blue in 1975 and was only satisfied in 1985, with the addition of the coloured collage elements.

‘I adore colour, but it’s how to use it and keep a great, clear simplicity, that’s the imperative in my work… The bones or foundation of the work must always be a balance of space, colour and shape’
Sandra Blow, 1994, quoted in ’Sandra Blow’, Royal Academy of Arts, exhibition catalogue, 1994, p. 33