Map Artist Statement 2010

I spin maps and search for figures formed by the interdependent lines. The exaggerated and distorted images that I illustrate lend themselves nicely to the narrative questions of “why and how.”  As I worked on the maps, I found myself remembering the Galapagos Islands, realizing I had never known where the Isle of Mann lies, and singing German lullabies. The process has taken me back to the places I’ve lived and the memories associated with them: Vienna, Jakarta, Beirut, Mexico City, Quito, Boston—and of course Canada, from Kingston to Toronto, Vancouver, and now the Soo. I have grown up with maps.

That said, I’m left wondering if these characters bare any relationship at all to my past. Or, do they exist simply to illustrate the random and whimsical nature of life. Humans have an insatiable need to find meaning—even from that which is fleeting or random. The more meaning we assign, the more we triangulate our location within ourselves and our communities.

The figures found within the lines of the maps illustrate this quest for meaning. The distortions make the images appear to be “in process”— of becoming, enduring, finding, reacting – our thirst for narrative is both quenched and piqued. We all move about on our own maps—in real time and space—as we become, endure, find, react—our life takes shape and we interpret our meaning.