Mary Bennett
Portland, OR

The Atlas of Emotions

$175

To purchase this work please contact Laura at 23 Sandy Gallery.

Rearrange, turn upside down, stack tall, knock over, design by color, or build by the emotion you’re feeling at the moment. I have all my life collected maps, atlases and nautical charts. These blocks are covered with maps reproduced from the book, The Atlas of Experience, Louise Van Swaaij and Jean Klare. I have had this atlas since it was first published in English in 2000 and use it as my personal map. I always (erroneously) refer to it as The Atlas of Emotions. I think it’s my psyche telling me that while these maps could be read as experiences, they really are about feelings and emotions that rule our lives.

GO AHEAD – play with blocks again, and feel free to use them in any format to express your feelings of the moment.

Vintage wooden blocks covered with map reproductions. Size varies. 2011

Artist Biography

Mary Bennett is a fairly recent Portland transplant that finds the art community to be very sophisticated and surprisingly welcoming. Her interest lies in collaboration and she would much rather work with people than alone. She considers herself a conceptual artist and her greatest fear is being too reverent.