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Cynthia Nawalinski — mixed media, paper

Cynthia Nawalinski is a Portland based artist working in mixed media. She participates in the FAR Away exhibit July/August 2010 with altered maps.

Cynthia Nawalinski cuts, erases, burns, draws and paints on maps, adding a new layer of information to the map. The shapes and patterns she uses are taken from the map or derived from the landscape: waves, mud cracks, lake shapes or leaf cell patterns.

When looking at a map, we look for clues to the map’s location, a place name or geological feature we recognize. Nawalinski’s work disrupts this process by obliterating or obscuring information. Pierced patterns expose the fiction inherent in using a two dimensional sheet of paper to represent a three dimensional landscape. By emphasizing aesthetic qualities of the map and obliterating or suppressing its functional qualities, Nawalinski transforms it from a scientific document into an aesthetic object.

In 2004 Nawalinski received a fellowship from the Oregon Arts Commission.