Cynthia Nawalinski
Portland, OR
Artist Statement
I cut, erase, burn, draw and paint on maps, adding a new layer of information to the map. The shapes and patterns I use are taken from the map or derived from the landscape: waves, mud cracks, lake shapes or leaf cell patterns.
When looking at a map, we look for clues to the map’s location, a place name or geological feature we recognize. My work disrupts this process by obliterating or obscuring information. Pierced patterns expose the fiction inherent in using a two-dimensional sheet of paper to represent a three dimensional landscape. By emphasizing aesthetic qualities of the map and obliterating or suppressing it’s functional qualities, I transform it from a scientific document into an aesthetic object.
Moon over Antarctica
$550
To purchase this work please contact Laura at 23 Sandy Gallery.
Watercolor and pencil over erased map, 11 x 14.75 inches, framed, 2003.
Buenos Aires
$550
To purchase this work please contact Laura at 23 Sandy Gallery.
Found map, painted paper, 14.75 x 11 inches, framed, 2003.
Rio de Janiero
$550
To purchase this work please contact Laura at 23 Sandy Gallery.
Found map, painted paper, 14.75 x 11 inches, framed, 2003.
Driving Distances
Cynthia tells us: “Several years ago I saw a show of old Oregon maps. As I studied them I realized there were no roads on these maps – waterways were the important routes for navigation and transportation. Maps have evolved, now road maps are the most common ones. Driving distance maps, usually found in the corner of a larger map, are a further distillation of driving information. Most curves are straightened out, and only the essential information is presented: a direct line from point A to point B, with distance and time for that section noted alongside the route. These driving distance maps remind me of crystalline structures found in rocks. I cut and stacked these maps in this book, like sedimentary rocks laid down on a seabed or river bottom. ”
SOLD!
Sketchbook, paint, cut maps, 12 x 10 x 0.5 inches, 2007.
Artist Biography
Cynthia Nawalinski received her B.S. in Entomology from U.C. Berkeley (1977) and her B.F.A. from Cornish college of the Arts (1983). Her interest in maps evolved from her travels; her interest in topographic maps grew from hiking in the North Cascades. She likes to explore the three dimensional possibilities of materials in addition to working on their surfaces.
Caldera Arts awarded Cynthia with an artist residency, and Oregon Arts Commission awarded her an Individual Artist Fellowship to further develop her work with maps. She shows work in Portland, Oregon, as well as Seattle and Stehekin, Washington.