The word “map” has its origins in the Latin word “mappa” which refers to a cloth square or napkin. My long-term interest in textile as a language of visual narrative has led me to explore the commonalities of maps and embroidery. Each discipline prizes extreme detail, edited information and events, the tendency for exaggeration and bias, and the potential for revision. These shared traits have informed this body of work.
Images and Statement by Bettina Matzkuhn
The various maps fall into three parts which all map experience but from different angles. Several large maps reference cartography intended for maritime or tourist uses. Viewers can recognize their own stories, both comic and tragic, within these internal geographies. During a residency at the Banff Centre for the Arts in 2008, I examined how maps and the legends that explain them speak about humans’ relationship to nature. Our aesthetic, physical and recreational needs often render nature incidental. I worked with Parks Canada biologist Heather Dempsey to create layered maps that feature the overlapping needs of humans and animals in the park. Finally, The Bike Trip project is the documentation of and reflection upon a solo 2300km journey.
This series of maps might embody this quote from James Cowan’s novel A Mapmakers Dream: “My map…was only one version of reality. The likelihood of being of any use to anybody remained entirely dependent upon its effectiveness as a tool of the imagination.” I offer my maps to your imagination.
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Bettina Matzkuhn has worked in fibre for 30 years with an emphasis on embroidery and fabric collage. She holds a BFA in Visual Arts and an MA in Liberal Studies from Simon Fraser University. In the 1980s she animated and directed three award-winning films using textiles for the National Film Board of Canada and an interest in narrative continues to inform her work. She exhibits her work in Canada and internationally, writes professionally on the arts, and is a sessional instructor at Emily Carr University of Art and Design in Vancouver, Canada. www.bettinamatzkuhn.ca
“Mappa” will be shown April 3 – June 3 at the Evergreen Cultural Centre 1205 Pinetree Way, Coquitlam BC www.myevergreen.org