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    Faith XLVII Sews Textiles Made from World Maps and Currency to Explore the ‘Veins of the World’

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    “Chaos Theory XXII.” All images courtesy of Faith XLVII and Heron Arts, San Francisco, shared with permission

    Faith XLVII Sews Textiles Made from World Maps and Currency to Explore the ‘Veins of the World’

    June 17, 2025

    Art

    Kate Mothes

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    In our ever more globalized society, we have technology to thank for the unprecedented connectivity we enjoy, both in our ability to fly or sail practically anywhere and have face-to-face video chats from halfway around the globe. It’s easy to forget that the turn-by-turn directions we use on our phones or locations we tag on social media are all built upon time-honored analog maps that have been used for centuries. And forget virtual credit cards—remember good old fashioned cash?

    For South African artist Faith XLVII (previously), cartography, money, and national symbols provide the foundations for ongoing series like The Deconstruction of Value and Chaos Theory. She cuts apart old maps, discontinued currency, and flags, sewing them back together into patterned tapestries. More than a dozen of these pieces will also be on view later this month at Heron Arts.

    Detail of “Chaos Theory XIII”

    Faith XLVII’s solo exhibition, Venarum Mundi—which means “veins of the world” in Latin—examines “the economic and geopolitical systems that structure our world,” the gallery says. Through colorful, quilt-like pieces, the artist is interested in what shifts and shapes our global reality, challenging notions of value, borders, and history.

    Venarum Mundi opens on June 28 and continues through August 2 in San Francisco. Find more on Faith XLVII’s website and Instagram.

    “Chaos Theory XXIII”

    “Entanglement”

    “The Deconstruction of Value IX”

    Detail of “The Deconstruction of Value IX”

    “The Deconstruction of Value XII”

    “The Deconstruction of Value X”

    Detail of “The Deconstruction of Value X”

    “Chaos Theory XX”

    Detail of “Chaos Theory XX”

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      Enigmatic Phenomena and Galactic Shapes Revolve in Shane Drinkwater’s Cosmic Systems

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      All images © Shane Drinkwater, shared with permission

      Enigmatic Phenomena and Galactic Shapes Revolve in Shane Drinkwater’s Cosmic Systems

      June 2, 2025

      Art

      Kate Mothes

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      For Queensland-based artist Shane Drinkwater, self-imposed restrictions provide a key starting point for works he creates in ink, pen, acrylic, and collage—always in a square format measuring about 50 by 50 centimeters. Arrows, crosses, dots, and numbers build linear elements and patterns, while primary colors provide the foundation for the occasional green or gradient.

      Drawing on a lifelong love for maps, ciphers, and astronomical charts, Drinkwater continues to explore the possibilities of fictional cosmic networks (previously). In some pieces, concentric circles resemble diagrams of the Solar System, while in others, references to comets or esoteric systems suggest the imaginary workings of atomic phenomena or alchemical experiments.

      Drinkwater’s work was recently included in the book Elements: Chaos, Order and the Five Elemental Forces, published by Thames & Hudson. He is currently preparing work for art fairs this fall in Copenhagen and Paris, along with a group show at Gagné Contemporary in Toronto. Find more on the artist’s website and Instagram.

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    • 188 Shares99 Views

      in Art

      Shaped Using Precisely Cut Maps, Nikki Rosato’s Busts and Portraits Connect Place, Memory, and Identity

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      Art

      #maps
      #paper
      #sculpture

      November 13, 2020
      Grace Ebert

      All images © Nikki Rosato, shared with permission
      Through mesh busts and delicate portraits, Nikki Rosato visualizes the connections between place and identity. The Washington, D.C.-based artist carves out the multi-colored highways and back roads from common maps, leaving the distances and spatial markings intact. She then shapes the cut paper into figurative sculptures and 2D artworks that vary in density and color depending on the original city or region.
      Rosat utilizes the precise markings of cartography to highlight the complex, inner-workings of memory and belonging. “As we move through life, the places we inhabit and the people that we meet alter and shape us into the person that we are in the present day. I am interested in the idea that a place I visited as a child has affected the outcome of the person that I am today,” she says.
      In a note to Colossal, the artist shares that she shifted her practice after her grandmother died in 2018. “I’ve taken the last few years to do a lot of research into my strong matriarchal lineage (my great grandmother literally walked hundreds of miles on foot with a 2-year-old to escape Lithuania in the early 1900s and then built our family in a small town in Pennsylvania),” she says, adding that her current projects consider the trajectory of these two figures’ lives.
      Some of Rosato’s intricate works are available from Jonathan Ferrara Gallery, and you can follow her pieces on Artsy.

      #maps
      #paper
      #sculpture

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