Alternate maps

_context

alternate maps: C-05 and G-14

... still work-in-progress ...

Seeing things from afar gives you a new perspective. It is indeed something that brings many valuable things - hope, awareness, awakening, and humbleness. Things look calmer from 11,000 m. The business of the streets is at ease, the tension and noise are gone. The daily troubles feel so small and distant. Seeing yourself like a tiny dot on the endless map helps you realise of the vast reality out there. Moving your dot on the map and uncovering new lands brings so much richness and excitement to your life, that you cannot simply have enough of it.

I’ve been travelling quite a lot during the last month. Within the Netherlands, I had to move between Rotterdam, Amsterdam, and Groningen for work. I took many trains and looked at myself as a moving dot on the map all the time. I took three flights to get from the Netherlands to Cyprus, with many obstacles on the way, such as flight delays, snowstorms and turbulence. I was calming myself by looking at the map and the way my vehicle was transporting my body for thousands of kilometers. I was calming myself by looking through the windows and seeing how stable the land is outside.

Drawing maps has always been an amazing therapy for me. It was the first drive I have since I arrived in Nicosia, in need of calming my soul after the long trip and during the ongoing struggle with long covid. At times when I was scared, anxious, and in pain, I healed myself, or at least gave myself strength to go on by holding tight to my acrylic marker. The lines on the canvas was leading me to a safer, warmer, happier place. I am still travelling, I hope I can get there safely.

_grid

the grid of the alternate maps with one of the pieces positioned as an example

The paintings have a place on a grid, where their names come from (hence their coordinates). When put together, the canvases make a big map, connecting through the lines (in the sense of exquisite corpses). The grid size is from 0-20 horizontally and A-M vertically for canvases, and from 0-20 vs. AA-MA for the hand-drawn cards.

_process

drafting maps on the iPad

drafting maps on the iPad and then on my notebook to try the colours

drawing the maps on canvas

This new obsession started with some doodling on the tablet while watching a new TV series. It was shortly after I had arrived in Cyprus and had a long and painful journey due to many train cancellations and delayed + missed flights. I spent a lot of time looking at the map during the week before (google maps for navigation, dutch transport apps for trains, and flightradar24 for my flights). Maps have always been something that triggers me to draw and I guess it was why I started my "art therapy session" with this particular aesthetic. In addition, the TV series' setup was Iceland, which also always brings my memories of it as such a remarkable place. It always inspires minimalism in the way I draw and design. Thus, starting a few doodles in black and white, I decided to experiment with making them colourful acrylic on canvas.

_list of works

_work in progress_

List of canvases

No.	Title	Format	Medium	Date	Location
01	C-05	15x15 cm	acrylic on canvas, blue & neon green	11-12-2023	Nicosia, studio
02	G-14	28x35 cm	acrylic on canvas, blue & neon green	13-12-2023	Gift to Ambassador Dantchev, Nicosia // 12-2023
03	K-04	28x35 cm	acrylic on canvas, blue & neon green	18-12-2023	Nicosia, studio
04	D-01	15x15 cm	acrylic on canvas, blue & neon orange	19-12-2023	Nicosia, studio

List of hand-drawn postcards

No.	Title	Format	Medium	Date	Location
01	CA-05	A6	blue & neon green	19-12-2023	Nicosia, studio
02	ЕA-15	A6	blue & neon green	19-12-2023	Nicosia, studio
03	LA-11	A6	blue & neon green; crayon and acrylic	19-12-2023	Nicosia, studio

_references & inspirations

★ Topographic maps
★ FlightRadar24
★ A Murder at the End of the World. (2023). TV Series.
★ The overview effect
★ Iceland