Visions Obscure My Vision

It often feels like our ability to see…our life, the world, the universe… is just out of reach.  We can perceive glimpses of what might be Truth or Reality through the noise of our fears, hopes and other shifting illusions; but consistent clarity is not possible.  This series of 10 collages combines prints of 5 meticulously observed moons from history with roiling, flowing shapes of my own ink marks and colorful cut-outs of Indian marble paper.  The moons are printed in soft tones to recede… but the structure of the maps are quite present and hold the whole together.

Each of the five moons is used twice to create pairs that can be shown together or not. Media: Collage: reproductions of maps of the moon (1704-contemporary) printed on Unryu Inkjet washi, mounted to Magnani 300g/m² cotton paper; Overlayed with Sumi Ink brush strokes (painted on Arturo text, cut out and adhered) and Indian marble paper.  Each, 12.6” diameter.

Collage over prints of the  hand-drawn map of the far side of the moon from photographs gathered by the Soviet Luna 3  (Russian: Луна 3) launched in 1959.

Collage over print of Johann Baptist Homann’s Map of the Moon dated 1704-42.

Collage over print of Moon Map by Justus Perthes, included in the Stieler Hand Atlas No. 5, 1880.

Collage over print of NASA map showing locations of the spacecraft landings on the moon (small color triangles). Contemporary.

Collage over print of Brockhaus’ Map of the Moon, 1898.

Detail of one from the series.