Artworks

“Sault Ste Marie Ochre Spidergram”
18″ x 24″
local-colour pigment; egg tempera; paper.

The map began with a coarse, pulverized rock sample from Eldorado at it’s centre and then expanded in whichever direction I decided to investigate based on colour changes, or opacity, or just plain instinct: Colours being simply recorded as they were created.  This was investigated only using four techniques: Sieving, calcifying, precipitating, or grinding, and each of these processes was marked with its own symbol (roughly based on those used in ancient alchemy).  The distances between each colour sample was used to indicate the passing of time and its duration.

What I like about these maps is that, while the final outcome remains a mystery during the process, returning to any colour afterward is a simple matter of following the mind-mapping trail.  This allows for unfettered freedom in the investigation of a place’s sample but also provides an accurate record for future use in recreating a specific colour again.

I’m looking forward to creating many more of these maps. As an example, for the exhibition at the former MMX space in Berlin this summer, I hope to install a set of these maps based on soil and rock samples from the local region.  From these local colour centres, who knows what I’ll find!  I think of this pigment map idea as a seed — I’m looking forward to watching it grow.

“Eldorado Ochre Spidergram”
18″ x 24″
local-colour pigment; egg tempera; paper.