ON THE MAP

Artists inspired by maps

This exhibition is a selection of work by artists who are inspired one way or another by maps.

Emma Johnson's work deals with issues of deconstruction and transformation, the recycling of materials, and the ambiguity of communication - as well as the obsessive repetitive actions used in the making of the work. Road maps are reconstructed into artworks which stand as a tangible and symbolic presence of the information contained within, but are virtually unreadable.

Shauna McMullan has also cut up road maps and has created an installation called Dislocations. The skeletal major and minor road systems of four countries where she has lived (Ireland, Mainland Britain, France and USA) suspended from glass rods form a delicate, transparent artwork from the prosaic pages.

Alex Perry uses a combination of machine embroidery, appliqué and screen printing on her canvases. Her interest lies not just in maps but in many different sources of information such as plans, diagrams and weather charts. In both her 2D and 3D work she likes to mix these sources up and layer them together to obtain patterns which often have a sense of movement.

Stephen Walter creates landscapes where objects are slowly taken over by their symbolic representations, leaving us with forests of geographical map symbols and places where every inch is mapped and quantified for human purpose. The 'awe', so revered by Walter, is presented by the sheer volume of symbols, pared down and separated from their real state.

Thurle Wright's prime medium is found paper and text. Using pages from novels, manuals, atlases, dictionaries, etc, she cuts and folds the paper into small units and then 'rebuilds' them, often into much larger structures. Her memory boxes - 'atlases of a shared past' - can be commissioned as presents with each box alluding to a significant place and time.