Sage Dawson: Maps & Metaphysics

June 19 - July 23, 2009

For a larger view and/or more information, click on the thumbnails below:

About the Exhibition:
Historically, maps have been used as tools to represent space: to make large things smaller or abstract things more concrete, as well as to consult for travel. Maps document not only literal representations of land�the distinct identities of spaces, imperialistic expressions of power, and scientific understanding, but also abstract organizational systems, historical development models, states of mind, and world views. They may be, in a sense, the largest portraits of communities that we have.

To this rich history, I contribute my maps. Familiar imagery and architectural references encourage viewers to imaginatively inhabit the landscape. I hope to suggest that history, the production of space, and human experience influence the formation of individual and communal systems of belief, and thus responses to existence in general. These maps recall and invent such influences, re-evaluation the archaic notion of sublimity, and explore map-making beyond the physical world and into a more epic landscape of history, space, myth and scripture.

About the Artist
Born in Michigan, and having lived primarily in Missouri, Sage Dawson received a BFA in Painting and Printmaking from Missouri State University in 2005. Using mixed media, Sage draws from experiences in her individual history, the landscape, and architectural research in Israel (2004) and India (2008).

Sage received an MFA in Printmaking with a minor in Museum Studies from the University of New Mexico in 2009. There, both in collaboration with the Tamarind Institute and alone, she worked beyond the constraints of the traditional press bed size using multiple panels to create large-scale prints. She has exhibited nationally and internationally, and was recently awarded a solo exhibition at Woman Made Gallery in Chicago. Sage�s current work draws upon the history of cartographic rendering: mapping a metaphysical landscape in order to investigate constructed systems of belief, sublimity, and the distinct identities of spaces. For more information visit www.sagedawson.com.