this too shall pass:MAPS 2013

 I love maps: the old paper ones and the new online ones (GPS is a godsend if you don't have a sense of direction!). But the old ones are obsolete technology - which on this tile, is half-buried under a digital map.  While I was in Turkey, I saw ancient Greek mosaics peeking out from under the edge of 'newer' Roman mosaics. That incredible, literal overlapping of historical layers sang to me, and has influenced my art.

The underlying map here is a digitally printed image of an early mosaic map of Jerusalem (for a textile artist, manipulating images in Photoshop and then being able to print the results on cloth is the most fun you can have that doesn't involve sex or chocolate). A digital map of the same part of the city, also printed on cloth, forms the top layer.

An ancient world map (with Christ's head, hands and feet at the top, bottom and sides) printed on cloth, with added Mapquest icons.

The city of Chester, England, has many maps available online. Some of these maps go far back, showing the original Roman wall. On this tile, I embroidered the oldest section (the part within the wall, seen here as a couched black thread) and ran a heavier white couched cord  to show the new roadway, pushing right through history.

The very earliest maps were imprinted onto clay, or carved into stone.  To create this ceramic map, I took Mapquest icons, used Photoshop to turn them into black and white images, and had them made up as rubber stamps. So along with my sorry attempts at cuneiform, this map shows where to get information, food and lodging.