make maps

Continuing from my last post, here's more of my favourite maps created by the students of the Maryland Institute of Art...

Janna and the World of Wonderful Shoes by Janna Morton

Janna's colourful map of shoes...

"It is hard for me to be sure at this time in my life where I belong geographically and/or emotionally, but one thing I can be certain of is the fact that I belong in wonderful shoes! With an 11 wide shoe size, thick calves, a tiny budget, and a penchant for the bright and unusually obnoxious, I have a lot of difficulty finding agreeable footwear. Everything is either too tight or too loose or too boring or too sporty! In my dreams, however, I walk in forests of De Stijl flats, breakfast-themed high tops, and kitten heels (adorned with actual kittens!) and every shoe fits me better than Cinderella’s glass slipper."

Forest Memory Map by Meghan Walsh

I really love Meghan's delicate and detailed map of the forest behind her house...

"I have always felt most at home in the forest behind my house. It was always a place I could escape to during my childhood and the possibility of having a place where I could be alone and have adventures was very freeing for me. My dog would escape my house and I would always have to be the one to capture her, so I've mapped out the routes on which I've chased her. This map is meant to portray this forest as I remember it, so I have drawn different portions from different viewpoints to more accurately show how this place exists in my memory.

"Recurring Dream from my Childhood by Caleb Lin

Great underwater colours in Caleb's map...

"When I was in elementary school I had a recurring dream where I would be drowning and a lifeguard would come and rescue me. Once I learned how to swim in the 3rd Grade the dream altered so that the same lifeguard would be drowning, and I would rescue her.The more memorable part of this dream, however, was the fact that it was set on the rocky California coast, where I grew up. In this dream I had an underwater home carved right into the rock, and the entrance was hidden deep underwater and functioned like that of a beaver’s den. This dream was a favorite of mine because I guess it fulfilled fantasies of being a hero, having superhuman swimming ability, and having my own secret hiding place."

It's Really Frustrating by Sarah Straub

Sarah maps the process of making her map, and in turn creates a journey of frustration...

There comes a point in every semester where you are given an assignment that causes your brain to just cut its losses, power down and cut up the power cord. At the ripe old age of 22, I don't really "belong" anywhere geographically, but instead I belong to my mind and its twisted route of frustration. So with this particular task, I mapped out and listed some of the phrases that trampled up and down my cranium when I'm stuck. Hence, we have a map of frustration. And if this map was not frustrating enough, consider this: just prior to getting the title in, the file corrupted and I had to re-finish it, resurrecting it from its festering grave from a pdf.

A big thanks to all the students who took part in the assignment and to Rebecca Bradley for helping the collaboration take place.

Keep an eye on all of the work created by the MICA illustration students by following their blog here: http://micamaps.blogspot.com/