Erik Laffer:

Two years ago, I came across a book by J.B. Harley, The New Nature of Maps. In the book, Harley writes: “Far from holding up a simple mirror of nature that is true or false, maps redescribe the world.”

At the time, I was exploring a new technique that would let me chart the experiences of my life in an attempt to better understand who I was and where I was going. I was, as the book helped clarify, making maps. And just as there is a language in map making, one that points the user in the right direction through the use of recognizable references, the work in my Cartography Series has a style and body of symbols that represent my struggle to understand self, family, home and culture.

For instance, repeating symbols such as the triangles, suns, circles, and large blocks direct a story within the map of each painting. The horizon line defines the event, and the topography is added through texture. The end result is what J.B. Harley might call a redescription of my world… I think of it as another piece in the collective map of my life.

>> View Press Release (07.01.11)