Introduction to Map It! from artist Avantika Bawa
“Maps are more than makers of space. They help us understand what lies within and beyond a space. Once defined, artists will often look at what lead to certain spaces into becoming ‘mapped’. And sometimes they will find ways to go challenge them and go beyond their borders.
Sometimes a map connects and marks imaginary areas, and that’s when things can get really interesting! What does your ideal map look like and how can you travel around it?
The artists in this show explore areas of their immediate surrounding, or desired destination and in some cases the flight of our infinite fantasy!"
—Avantika Bawa
Thanks for the introduction Avantika!
Avantiki Bawa is an artist in Portland, Oregon and she often looks at space, movement and architecture in her artwork. One of her projects involved mapping routes of historic, commercial, and military significance - and how did she map this? By floating a big orange ball along the routes!
Another artist using maps in their artwork is Emily Ginsburg.
The image here is a map of a conversation, it shows the body language that two people (who are standing still) and talking use when communicating with each other. It's amazing how much we gesture with our hands when we talk, but we don't notice it until someone like Emily draws attention to it by mapping it out. Maps are a great way to draw attention to everyday actions.
And finally, here is a wonderful map of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York
this was made by artist and illustrator John Kerschbaum, maybe you can use this map of the Met to find more map art in the collection of the Met?