I have always loved geography. As a schoolchild it was among my favorite subjects. As an artist I get to manipulate it, change it; play god with it. To use it as a tool to create my own reality or perhaps better yet – to discard what I know altogether and just let it be an element of my aesthetic. Books with imaginary worlds, like The Lord of the Rings, and now Game of Thrones, fascinate me. Planetary maps, moon maps, galaxy maps… There’s even a Google Mars website now for the parts of the red planet that have been mapped. No Street View there yet.
When I’m stuck on what to create or am in a quandary about a piece of art I’m currently laboring on, I can reliably set it aside for a while and start a new piece by reaching for my map drawer.
