Creative Cartography

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Elizabeth A. Batronis

UNDERNEATH THE SURFACE

AZ map, ink, and gouache

My piece shows the world that is within the ground all around us and how some parts can be seen in multiple areas. It uses multiple colored gouache, and ink, shapes to show what could be under the ground we walk.

DISCOVER

Elizabeth A. Batronis

HIDDEN LIFE

AZ map, Paper Mache, and moss

My piece presents a lost and forgotten creature that was hidden from the world. It uses Paper Mache to show its form and the moss as a representation of something forgotten and covered up by the land.

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Mariel Brooks

MAPPING THE ANCIENT WORLD

AZ map, acrylic paint, wood block, wire

My piece is a torch representing the key instrument that was used long ago to search caves and other dark places. I used the colored pieces of the map to represent the flames as both the map, and the flame of the torch are tools to find objects yet to be seen.

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Mariel Brooks

MAPPING THE FUTURE WORLD

AZ map, Acrylic Paint

My piece represents the modern-day advantages of discovery. The use of new age gear allows everyday people to discover the depths of the ocean and the mysterious creatures that reside there.

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Zoe N Cano                                                             

SEARCHING FOR THE HIGHPOINT                 

AZ map, watercolor, and acrylic   

This project is representation of the various elevations throughout my mapped mountain range. The variety of colors shift your view from the lowest to highest points.

DISCOVER  

Zoe N Cano                                     

DISCOVER YOUR VIEW              

AZ map, watercolor pen, butter board, wooden dowel rod, and ink  

This project was an exploration of discovering a new place for the first time. As the user wanders the wooden structure, it provides vantage point to uncover new sights.

DISCOVER

Jack Dauncey

ALIEN BLUEPRINT

Arizona map, ballpoint pen

I had the idea to create the blueprints for some kind of giant alien machine, transposed over the Arizona landscape. I thought that the implications of this idea were ominous and related to my fascination with the possibility of extraterrestrial life.

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Jack Dauncey

ALIEN PROBE

Arizona map, glue

Following the narrative of my DISCOVER piece, I imagined what kind of device might’ve created the blueprints. I took inspiration from human satellites, as well as the dozens of science fiction films I have seen over the years.

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Kathy Guo                                       

Path of Courage

AZ map, watercolor, ink pen and cut paper

My piece illustrates a young boy's harrowing journey to find a wish-granting sphinx. I used black and red colors for the dangerous beasts he encounters along the way, and gold accents to link him to the fabled creature he seeks. 

DISCOVER  

Kathy Guo                                       

Moment of Truth

AZ map, watercolor, ink pen and cut paper

My piece presents the scene where the boy finally discovers the sphinx, in the heartland of Greece. Before his wish can be granted, the creature offers him a riddle with two choices - moon or arrow?

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James Guthrie                                                        

GLOBE                     

AZ map and cut paper       

This piece uses cut paper to create a three-dimensional representation of an unknown planet in the form of a globe. Like the use of similar globes, the act of searching is encouraged to help in understanding the unique characteristics and geologic features of this unexplored planet.

DISCOVER  

James Guthrie                                            

HOLBROOK, AZ                 

AZ map and ink       

This piece portrays a collection of local landmarks from across the regional area of Holbrook. Through ink illustrations done overtop this topographic map, I am able to highlight personal discoveries of unique and beautiful architecture and landmarks in the area.

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Joliet Gutzwiller

A SURVEY ON A DIFFICULT QUESTION.

Ink on an AZ map.

This piece was created with the help of six anonymous surveyors, each tackling the difficult questions surrounding the prompt of search. What will you find inside the art, and inside yourself?

DISCOVER

Joliet Gutzwiller

SHOULD IT BE DISTURBED?

Paper Mache, radioactive material deposit maps, and found objects.

Using radioactive material maps to create the shape, this piece digs into the history of Arizona mining and the contamination that happens during the process. It then asks is it enough to know where the danger lies, or must we also seek to unearth it for the sake of discovery?

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Kaiying Huang

SHINING GALAXY

AZ map, ink, watercolor, and acrylic 

My piece explores the sentence “ Even when I am in the dark, I still try to shine.” The colored shining hair is also my spirit when I face suffering.

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Kaiying Huang

GALAXY PLANE

AZ map, ink, acrylic, cut paper and bamboo stick.

Discovering the inside galaxy from the map-coved plane. Shining and glowing stars describe the wish to shine even in the dark.

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Melissa R. Ihly

KUURALRIA & ARSAAR

AZ map, colored pencil, graphite, and acrylic

This piece is an homage to my late grandmother, Martha (Kuuralria) Kawagely and shows the image of her holding me (Arsaar) as a baby. She spent her life living in a rural Alaskan village and had she not passed when I was very young, she would have been the one to teach me the most about my Yup’ik cultural traditions.

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Melissa R. Ihly

YURAQ - DANCE

AZ map, wire, felt, faux fur, gold paint, plastic frame, plastic frame stands, and paper

This piece displays my personal discovery of my Alaska Native Yup’ik heritage through the creation of dance fans. Traditionally, these are items created using grass weaving techniques and animal furs and I chose to apply my own artistic techniques to add a modern feel to the tradition.

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Angel Jimenez                                           

COMFORTS OF A PACK 

AZ map, graphite, watercolor, and gel pen

My piece presents a wolf pack running at the viewer and utilizes shapes in the map to create an organic artic landscape. This helps portray how we follow the crowd sometimes instead of take time to discover ourselves and our passions.

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Angel Jimenez                                           

LONE WOLF

AZ map, clay sculpture, mod podge, acrylic, and thrifted glass terrarium

My piece brings to life one of the wolves from my painting COMFORTS OF A PACK to personify the wolf as a person going outside of their comfort zones and discovering that there is more to life than the cycle of the everyday.  I added the glass terrarium to further show comfort zones and how we feel they protect us but sometimes they hold us back.

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Nadia J. Lakovich                                     

MAPPING MY SKIN                       

AZ map, pushpins, acrylic, and fake flowers     

My piece is a paper mâché roadmap of my body. Pushpins mark places of significance on my lying form.

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Nadia J. Lakovich                                                             

THE KEY                  

AZ map, ink, pen, watercolor, cut paper, colored pencil, acrylic, fake flowers

My piece offers an explanation for the various pushpins in the “MAPPING MY SKIN” project. It is similar to a map key in design.

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Miguel Angel Monzon                                                      

FELONYADJACENT         

Acrylic, Digital Inkjet Print , Acrylic, Tissue Paper, and Screen Print, on AZ Map

Migrants traverse a northward path leaving all they know behind in search of safety for themselves and their families. They must go through the drug cartels, border immigration, and a hostile arid landscape, risking their lives only to be coerced into giving up their rights and agreeing to never return to this land or become a felon in the process.

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Miguel Angel Monzon                                                      

OXIDIZED URANIUM        

Paper Mache, AZ Uranium Map, Wood, and Acrylic

Uranium hit an all-time high in June of 2007 at $136, the current going price for a pound of Uranium is $29, there are currently no active uranium mines in Arizona. It was only 5 years ago that the late Senator John McCain was supporting a big push against the will of native Najavo peoples of the area, that called for foreign companies to begin mining the Grand Canyon; there is currently an estimated deposit of 1.63 million pounds.

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Abbey N. Porterfield

AN OCEANIC DISCOVERY

AZ Map, watercolor

My piece is about the importance of the ocean, and how human civilization continue to try to conquer it through harmful actions. My topographic map begins to show that Mother Nature has a way of returning to her what is meant to be hers.

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Abbey N. Porterfield

AN OCEANIC DISCOVERY

AZ Map, air dry clay, acrylic, watercolor, and cut paper

Using the colors from the geological map, my piece presents one of the beauties of the ocean, and the colors that are disappearing in front of our eyes. If the human race continues to search, there will be no more beautiful things, like the coral reefs, to discover.

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Analicia E. Sanford

SEARCHING FOR MYSELF

AZ map, ink, watercolor paint, watercolor pencil

My piece illustrates various locations, activities, and landmarks in my hometown, Yuma.  Each of these played influential roles in my life while I was searching for my self-identity.

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Analicia E. Sanford

SELF DISCOVERY

Az map, foam board, wood

My piece is a replica of The Mill Avenue Bridge that I drive by whenever I travel from my hometown, Yuma, to my current home in Tempe. I have discovered a great deal about myself while living in Tempe and the bridge symbolizes the journey I have taken both literally and metaphorically.

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Alyssa Stewart 

FOLLOW THE PINK BRICK ROAD  

AZ map, ink, acrylic, and watercolor 

My piece showcases the path I took to finding what subject I wanted to study in school. It uses characters from The Wizard of Oz to showcase the careers I considered before discovering what major I really wanted to pursue. 

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Alyssa Stewart  

PAINTING THE WORLD 

AZ map, papier Mache, cut paper, ink, watercolor, and acrylic  

My piece displays the career I decided to pursue. After following a path of undesired careers, I finally found painting. 

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Cora Talkington

SEARCH FOR OUR HOME

AZ map, matte board, alcohol based markers 

Using Nahuatl and Mayan codex, this border for an Arizona map tracks the migration and story of my family. The migration begins in Guadalajara, Mexico, and ends in Phoenix, Arizona where I have settled.

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Cora Talkington

NATIVE TO AMERICA

Map, coffee, acrylic medium

Flint corn is one of oldest varieties of corn, which is native to the Americas. In recognition that America has always been inhabited, I wanted to create a sculpture of a staple crop of many Indigenous people.

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Kendra K. M. Tamura

PLAYING ON MY MIND    

AZ map, watercolor, and colored pencil

My piece illustrates the corner humanity tends to back itself into. Watercolor is used to create the illusion of flames and texture lines make up the invasive species of the southwest: red brome.

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Kendra K. M. Tamura

I’D LOVE IT IF WE MADE IT        

Az map, cardboard, gouache, acrylic, pen, and watercolor

My piece displays my discovery of the fire of Mangum that took place in the Kaibab forest. The limited color palette emphasizes the force of the fire, considering a blue flame tends to burn hotter than a red flame.

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Kyla B. Culbertson

Deconstructing A Map

AZ map, torn paper, and glue

My piece deconstructs the map to disarray. It uses torn paper to overlap and manipulate what one thinks of a map.

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Kyla B. Culbertson

Box

AZ map and glue

My piece presents a common made object out of paper. It uses the idea of a box to represent travel, time, lightness, and delicacy of a map. 

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Alicia Carr

MOON DOLL

AZ map, ink pen, watercolor, and cut paper

My piece features a whimsical doll, retrieved by the traveler in search of a divine being. It uses cut paper to emulate a childlike wonder.

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Alicia Carr

STARSHINE

AZ map, watercolor, salt, white ink, and gouache

My piece depicts the traveler’s discovery: a large doll-like entity, bound and adorned with constellations. The topographic lines are enhanced by watercolor washes.