Jessica Maloney: Exponential Growth

 
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Artist(s):


Title:


    Exponential Growth

Exhibition:


Medium:


    Mixed media, printed digital images, beeswax, wood panel

Size:


    38.5" x 38.5"

Category:


Artist Statement:


    Exponential Growth references growth that is continuous over a period of time. The map represents a layer of growth, particularly growth and expansion of the human population in and around Tucson, Arizona. This area is represented because of its rapidly expanding population and because of its rich physical beauty and spiritual history. The landscape possesses a particular mystique all its own, which is quite awe-inspiring.

    Maps are used to clarify and document the land, but if viewed as an abstract pattern, the organic lines of the map reference the natural growth and energy that exists in nature. Energy and growth are in­trinsically tied, and as the human population grows and expands, so too does the energy in the space the humans occupy. What makes this concept so intriguing is that energy is the potential for action, and while some forms of energy can be mapped out and quantified, the potential of other forms, such as the spiritual energy of a person or place, cannot be so easily decoded.

Technical Information:


    This mixed-media piece combines both digital and traditional forms of art. The digital art is comprised of three separate digital prints, all created in Adobe Photoshop 7.0. The images on the lower part of the piece began as scans of photographs the artist took of cotton fields in Arizona. The photographs were then pieced together and combined with scans of old wood to create the final images. The prints were done on a heavy watercolor paper. The digital print of the map that makes up the majority of Exponential Growth is a scan of a map of Arizona, which was then cropped and manipulated before the final print. The print was produced by an HP5500 large-format printer on matte photographic paper. After the prints were done, they were attached to a wood panel using an encaustic process. Beeswax both protects the prints and adds a luminous texture to the surface.