Friday, January 11, 2013

Mapping New Work

 
by Jo Reimer

I've collected road maps since our initial trip west, many of them free from gas stations along the way. Some are tourist maps of cities, some AAA maps, some hand drawn. Maps have been a large part of my life, and maybe yours, too, though we now rely on Google Maps and the maps in our smartphones and our GPS. I still print out maps because I'm so used to the paper map.

So... one day I decided to shred an old map see how I could use the strips creatively. To me the strips of map are the roadway, the directions for how to get somewhere, the path I traveled, and because I make an effort to make art that reflects my own life history and emotions it seemed appropriate to investigate where my map collection would take me on canvas and paper.

Crossroads
22" x 17"
acrylic and collage on paper

   
Crossroads was the first in the series. Here I laid down strips of map to indicate a matrix of roads leading away from a city somewhere west, near the water.


From Franklin to Oneida
22" x 17"
acrylic and collage on paper
From Franklin to Oneida, 22 x 17, grew out of imagining the chaos of traveling through unfamiliar landscape, following a straight highway and suddenly coming upon a small town out in the middle of nowhere and wondering why people settled there in the first place.

Sea City
10" x 10"
acrylic and collage on paper

The design for Sea City came about from looking at an actual map of a coastal city and adding the main streets to the painting as strips of maps, though not cut from a map of this actual city.

 
Toward Mill City
5" x 20"
collage on board
Toward Mill City veers away from strips of map to using larger torn scraps of map to indicate the city and the straight shot of freeway driving between one town and another.

Wetlands
20" x 20"
acrylic and collage on board
As I was painting Wetlands I imagined looking down on the landscape from above, seeing a small town nestled between the rivers and creeks that flow through a rather wet landscape. Homes and businesses were built above the flood plain but were controlled by the flow of the water, while nearby the freeway soared above the landscape, bypassing the town altogether.

From San Antonio to OKC
6" x 24"
acrylic and collage on board
From San Antonio to OKC uses larger portions of the maps of two large cities as well as painted papers and slices of maps. 

As you can see, I continue to experiment with ways to use my maps. I've only scratched the surface as I search for more ways to use the idea of maps, travel, journey, and exploration.  I have lots more ideas and since this work is moving along so fast I'm confident that I'll have many more pieces to show you in the future.





12 comments:

  1. What an interesting set. I think the first is particularly striking, but I love the last piece as well. Thanks for posting.

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  2. Thanks, Annie. I'm glad you have favorites; I do, as well.

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  3. What a great concept for this new series.

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  4. What Creative Fun lady...enjoyed see how many ways your using the maps.

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    1. Thanks Laura, I enjoy your collage work, too. How about trading links?

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  5. Glad I happened upon your blog. I love map art and this work is suburb!

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    1. I'm glad you found me, too, Marie. Thanks for the comment and compliment.

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  6. Amazing!!! Wow!!! I am truly inspired!

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  7. Hey Jo! These look good together! I especially like the off kilter 'Sea City'!

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    1. Thanks Randall, It's a little guy and I struggled a bit more than usual with it but somehow it seems to have worked. I'm glad to get your note just now to remind me that Randall says to get busy painting. I've toiled on other things way too long today.

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  8. I love the different design and collage elements. The compositions are also intriguing and unusual. Fascinating work.

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I appreciate comments and questions.