Mapping the Intangible
2013-2014
Notions of interconnection, place, and identity over time are explored in the series Mapping the Intangible. Watercolor mixed with salt allows for a nebulous space, where color collides and unexpected patterns form. These spaces of freedom represent the unpredictable nature of people and life situations. Juxtaposed against these ambiguous areas, detailed maps of important places bring clarity and control. These locations are significant to my identity and provide a way to navigate what is unknown. Maps are blown up and shrunk down to focus on small areas like a market or neighborhood and then zoomed out to see the outline of city walls; they are turned on an axis and then reconnected, where lines meet organically. Because these maps are a combination of actual places and false connections, they serve as an atlas of memory that informs identity.
Similar to memory, the fragile salt crystals in my paintings are impermanent. As the salt dries, parts of it crack and flake off. Time alters these paintings, while simultaneously disintegrating moments and people from the past. It sides with the unpredictable as ultimately, the past fades, the perception of self is altered, and control is relinquished. The impermanence of time is immutable.
