UNMAPPING

A series of mixed media works on rough paper. I trace the edges of watercolor paint with an ink pen, following the "boundaries" formed by pigment as it pools and flows over and into the surface of the paper. Made from plant substances like cotton or bark, the paper is a microcosmic landscape that pigment and ink reveal. I incorporate collage, cutting pieces from old U.S. geological survey maps. One was made during the directorship of John Wesley Powell, who led the first U.S. government expedition down the Colorado River to the Grand Canyon. He died in 1902. A large artificial reservoir, Lake Powell, on the Colorado River, is named after him. To create the reservoir, the Colorado river was dammed, and Glen Canyon filled with water, covering over ancient, indigenous petroglyphs. I take ironic pleasure in cutting up and re-purposing old surveyor or recreational maps, so often been used to create fraught boundaries across this continent. I also use fragments from an old family passport or immigration papers, reflecting my interest in borders, immigration, and mapping.