Map Portraits by Matthew Cusick
Matthew Cusick cuts apart maps to create stunning collages and sculptures, including these portraits. Cusick collects maps and then cuts them apart according to colour and shade, pasting them into these compositions on a board backing.
These pieces are amazing, they show that art can truly be made from anything!
Oceania, 2012
Shauna, 2011
Course of Empire (Mixmaster 1), 2003
Images from http://mattcusick.com/paintings-collage/map-works
Head Sculpture by Nikki Rosato
Delicately interwoven like veins, the tiny green, blue and red strips of maps used to create these incredible sculptures are molded around a packing tape form to create a three-dimensional shape. Artist Nikki Rosato removes the land masses, leaving nothing but the roads and rivers behind, reinforcing the paper with wire as necessary.
This is a very nice approach at working with maps, by dissecting certain parts of the maps, you are left with many different parts to play around with, evidently Nikki Rosato played around with this.
Images from http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/nikki-rosato?before=1305215731
The World by Paula Scher
The names of countries, cities and geographical features like deserts and mountains make up the hand-painted text-based map. “The World is a painting about information overload. It depicts the world as swirling information that is always changing, often inaccurate, while somewhat illuminating. It is expressionistic information.”
A different medium to what I have previously looked at it maps, the way this has been done looks extraordinary, I think this may be due to the artist’s personal handwriting, I feel this makes it even more unique.
Images from http://www.paulaschermaps.com/
Typographic World Maps by Nancy McCabe
Nothing but text and dreamy splashes of watercolor paint make up these hand-crafted world maps.
I love the minimalist approach, it’s so simple and yet there is so much to see!
Images from http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2011/03/typographic-world-map/
Maps, Reorganized by Armelle Caron
These works take the components that make up a city and lay them out according to size for a more tidy-looking result. The French artist displays the original maps alongside the decontextualised shapes, also providing wooden cut-outs that can be arranged by visitors.
These are like meaningless maps for the obsessive compulsive, and they look amazing! The images lined up almost look like lots of people standing next to each other.
Image from http://absterabbi.wordpress.com/2011/08/03/reorganized-cities-by-armelle-caron/
Patterns in Pieces of Maps by Shannon Rankin
Little discs of maps are used to create installations, collages and drawings “that use the language of maps to explore the connections among geological and biological processes, patterns in nature, geometry and anatomy. Using a variety of distinct styles I intricately cut, score, wrinkle, layer, fold, paint and pin maps to produce revised versions that often become more like the terrains they represent.”
The patterns created are incredible! I really like the idea of cutting up maps and creating new things.
Images from http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/shannon-rankin?before=1339798987