CUT / PASTE

ON VIEW: June 2 - October 31, 2025

Geography, Cramer Hall | Portland State University

Photo by Thien-Kim Bui

Cut / Paste is a collection of map collages created as part of a public workshop held at Portland State University in January 2025.

Maps abstract and simplify reality; collage invites participants to explore and challenge that assumed reality. Freed from the constraints of traditional cartography, map collages can disregard conventions, upset dominant narratives, or comment on political issues. By reducing maps to their symbolic elements, removing the original context, reassembling elements into new configurations, and then writing artist statements, workshop participants shared insights into their feelings, perceptions, and understandings of place. The resulting collages and artist statements illuminate the relationship between mental mapping and cartography, offering insights into how each influences the other.

Several map collages playfully subvert familiar spatial relationships in favor of new connections, such as Tatjana Beck and Anthony Heatherly’s The Storied Oregon Isles or Dianna Ferrell’s Multnomah’s Visionary Scenic Rivers. In Ben Clark’s Travellers Beyond Borders, animals borrowed from one map explore the terrain of another.

Other artists experimented with the aesthetics of map symbology. Andie Lafayette’s Rose tinted glasses leans into color, while Asher Flynn’s Existential Delineation Experimentation favors shapes. This approach is exemplified by Karin Waller’s hyperfocus on a singular map embellishment in I am but mad North by Northwest.

Many of the pieces in this collection are reflective. Some speak directly to current events or address cultural concepts, such as Hallie Liu’s Western Lore. Other pieces use maps to navigate the internal landscape of memory, such as Travis Anglin-Dodd’s INTER/state or Rachel Rudick’s The Basin of Reverie. Still other pieces explore people’s intimate and developing relationships with place, such as Aaron Menconi’s Carolina Islands or Rachel Springer’s Borders and Claims.

If current map theory considers maps as always in the process of becoming and never ontologically secure, then map collages take that perspective to the next level.

Thien-Kim Bui and David Banis, June 2025

Gallery

Abstractions

ARTIST STATEMENTAs the artist I grabbed onto the idea of making a map collage that consisted of mostly fictitious ideas. With the original map consisting of Multnomah County and a snapshot of Portland from a bird's eye view, it became the outline representing the only trace of reality. Representing a vast green and blue landscape of vegetation, flowing rivers and wildlife, it's a display of tranquility with humans and nature cohabitating together. My thought was to create a dreamy vision of how life could have been with the city landscape minimized to a couple small homes, airplanes and a few structures of modernization intertwined in the greenery. Nothing about the map is accurate other than the rivers. Anyone can observe the collage pieces have been robbed from other locations which adds to the humorous divide of make-believe and reality. Maybe it's like playing I-Spy, and my intention is to create curiosity.

Asher Flynn, Existential Delineation Experimentation, 2025. USGS map, National Park Service map, aviation maps, water resource map, other maps.18 x 26 inches. Courtesy of the artist. All rights reserved.

ARTIST STATEMENTI wanted there to be some overall structure present in the map, but I generally went with bits and parts from places I knew and/or had interest in. Eventually I found a flow that included a good amount of circular symbols and projections. In the past, I've done simple projects about the coastal inundation potential of the next megathrust earthquake and I love map contour lines, so I included some pieces of the Oregon Coast overlapping ocean bathymetry. There are pieces from historic maps near where my family lives here in Portland as well as other map accoutrements I found eccentric or interesting, such as scales, north arrows, legends, and other various decorations. I haven't done a collage since probably grade school so I just tried to have fun with it!

ARTIST STATEMENTTo create it I found as many pink shades I could within the provided maps. Green is the complementary color to red/pink so I thought using the "opposite" color of the one you would typically find on a map would be a fun challenge. While masking it I included some references to my home, Alaska, as a nod to the way we view our nostalgia through rose tinted glasses.

ARTIST STATEMENTThe myth of California looms large. Self-referential and self-magnifying, it imagines on an industrial scale, appropriating and re-appropriating culture and value(s) onto the global stage. Like all good tales, a grain of truth renders these productions irresistible and relatable. What does the idea of California represent? What of the world is recognizable there? What possibility beckons? Does it matter from where it was imported....? What appeals?

ARTIST STATEMENTWhile putting this piece together, I asked a friend for their input about whether I should put the arrows all in one direction or not. Almost immediately I rejected their input and was surprised how strongly I felt they needed to face in one direction. I interpreted this as a reflection of my desire to make order out of chaos. I like to know where I stand, who I stand there with, and which direction I am going.

Water

ARTIST STATEMENTThis map explores the intersection of human infrastructure and water. The roads are a skeleton over which the water flows; there is water above and water below. Beneath the water lay memories of landscapes past and dreams of landscapes yet to come. Compass roses from nautical maps respond to unknown magnetisms and contradict each other. Are we looking at a disaster, or an opportunity? The map refuses to answer.

David Banis, Tributaries of Fluvial Civilization, 2025. Groundwater maps, resource management maps, road maps, tourist maps, flood maps, National Geographic maps, other maps. 28 x 22 inches. Courtesy of the artist. All rights reserved.

ARTIST STATEMENTBoundaries and centers, meanders and channels, industry and agriculture, transport and habitat, scenic and polluted, free-flowing and dammed (damned?), then and now. All that complexity, always symbolized with shades of blues I’ve only seen on maps.

ARTIST STATEMENTThe Oregon Coastline is a landform revered by many, but what if long term geological processes had created islands in addition? This map tackles this concept by creating islands that are entirely imagined and consider the social, economic, political potential, as well as the depicted geographic differences such landforms may have offered. The islands provide an exciting landscape upon which lie complex stories, being composed of different soil types, varying topologies, and discrete references - all sorts of different map types imposed into this one work of fiction. Next time you make a map, take a moment to think about the "what could be" and come up with your own storied isles!

ARTIST STATEMENTBodies of water are often defined by their shore lines, and while the Monterey Bay and Manhattan shorelines are visible in this piece, they are defined in terms of negative space, highlighting the water instead. In making this piece I was thinking of how class and access to water intersect, especially in areas with high living costs like New York City and around California's Monterey Bay. While my grandfather loved boats, the title of this piece was one of his favorite lines. He and my grandmother spent many years involved in projects with the goal of democratizing access to water as a path to greater appreciation of the natural world.

Land

Ben Clark, Travelers Beyond Borders: Washington's Shrub-Steppe Wildlife Explore the Dolomite Mountains, 2025. Italian touring club map, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife map. 24.5 x 32 inches. Courtesy of the artist. All rights reserved.

ARTIST STATEMENTThis artwork weaves together two ecosystems as fauna from Washington’s shrub-steppe habitat navigate the complex topography of Italy’s Dolomite mountains. The animals traverse mountains, valleys, and rivers they would never naturally inhabit, creating a playful map of novel ecological interactions. This fusion of disparate elements seeks to explore how maps can be more than tools for navigation; they can also become canvases for imagination and storytelling. This piece hopes to spark curiosity, conversation, and appreciation for the diversity of life and landscapes on the planet we call home.Washington’s Shrub-Steppe Animals From Top Left:loggerhead shrike, cinnamon teal, golden eagle, coyote, badger, white-tailed jackrabbit, sage grouse, American avocet, burrowing owl. The mouse, beaver and lizard were separately sourced and are not from a shrub-steppe environment.

ARTIST STATEMENTThis map represents my personal atlas, where the familial continental plate collides with others that travel has drifted into my life. The pine-laden mainland of North Carolina is the central pillar of the islands, rich in fireflies and fragrant tobacco fields, and occupies the lion's share of land among the islands. The seaside city of Denver sits among the barrier islands along the southeastern shore, and enjoyed regular visits in my youth on road trips with my grandparents where I'd have a road map spread across my lap following our route from Raleigh. In March of 2018, the island of Cyprus joined in an event that marks the beginning of the formation of the Carolina Archipelago, which was followed by the collision of the Indian subcontinent in July of 2018.As of January 2024, volcanic activity along the western shore has begun to form the first glimpses of the Cascade Range, which scientists monitoring this phenomenon claim they will have data to update this map by summer of 2026.

ARTIST STATEMENTI decided to try and cut and paste as many different odd geological features and patterns together onto one grid as I could, and just let the map come together to be as confusing as it could be. I wanted it to unravel and make less sense the closer you try to decipher it.

ARTIST STATEMENTI wanted to create a map that reflects both size and emotional significance. Being from Seattle, it’s the heart of the state to me, and so I wanted it in the most detail, and everything around it smaller, and filled in with stuff that I associate with the vibes of that part of the state

ARTIST STATEMENTBorders and Claims is a fragmented rendition of the Pacific Northwest (PNW). In it, natural disasters loom, topography and habitats shift, and the region’s tangled ownership renders the geography slippery. My intention was to create a map of seams, of lands and resources stretched under opposing pulls. I drew inspiration from my experiences living in Portland and Seattle, along with my research interests of disaster justice and climate adaptation in the PNW.

ARTIST STATEMENTThe collage brings together multiple approaches for depicting topographic relief. The black topographic transparency serves as the unifying substrate for the collage elements. The work is best viewed in front of a window.

Introspective

ARTIST STATEMENT///INTER/stateOregon → North Carolina → Oregon → North Carolina → Oregon. Repeatedrepeatedrepeated. A game stuck in an endless loop.California / Arizona / New Mexico / Texas / Louisiana / Mississippi / Alabama / Georgia / state / lines / like / levels.[Level select]Lifecompressedintoahatchback, packed with whatever hadn’t been lost last time.Just enough space to occupy—wedged between baggage and expectation.[Save your progress?]The Game Boy Advance: the ideal escape. Structured. Predictable. Portable.The batteries drained slower than mine did.The save files lasted longer than my sense of self.[Overwrite this save file?]Time slipped. Places blur.Time slipped. Places blur.TpIlMaEc eSsL IbPlPuErD.[Files corrupted]“We’re almost there” meant nothing.“Are we there yet?” wasn’t worth asking.[Game over. Continue?]Each stop overwrote each stop overwrote each stop.No save point. Just restart.Just restart.Just restart.[Restart]///

ARTIST STATEMENTThis piece began as an attempt to chart a place I visit often in dreams—a landscape that returns again and again, familiar yet just beyond grasp. I set out to map it, but the process led me elsewhere. Drawn to the braided rivers, oxbow curves, and pastel hues of dusty topographic maps, I followed the terrain as it unfolded on its own terms.Water, like dreams, is ephemeral—always shifting, impossible to hold. Both resist being mapped, yet leave traces that shape the land and the self. In that spirit, the basin that emerged—dendritic, meandering, and slightly fantastical—became a different kind of geography. A place I didn’t quite recognize, but felt compelled to explore. Near the end, I discovered a real lake named Rachel Lake, quietly nested within a Snoqualmie Forest map. I placed it at the center, not just for the name that I share with it, but for the feeling it gave: of quiet invitation to explore the inner terrain.The Basin of Reverie is both an imagined cartography and a personal terrain. A place that invites internal exploration, where memory, fantasy, and geography blur like the edges of a dream.

ARTIST STATEMENTThis collage was inspired from my own life-long journey of trying to find "home" -- geographically, culturally, internally, and community-wise. The whale and the orca with her baby symbolize this journey, across oceans and between land masses and past danger. Just like myself, unbeknownst to them, are the currents of life that they are following and being supported with. Perhaps these currents are home -- the transitions, the uncertainty, the new places and faces, etc. It is a question I ponder. This is the theme of the collage. Are you in search of home as well?

ARTIST STATEMENTWeaving together place, connection, and currents of change, this map reminds us of the joy and whimsy of life, even when there is laundry to do. For now, you are here.

ARTIST STATEMENTMy computer chimesA digital destinyporch lit wind chimes drift

Political

ARTIST STATEMENTThe complex and intricate histories of the First Peoples of North America are impossible to map. Underrepresentation, sordid historical treatment, and the destruction of records ensures a comprehensive view of this picture remains foggy, and, like this map, patched together. These cultures' beauty and ingenuity remain under-taught or flat-out misrepresented in schools, perpetuating the patchwork. If we are to enrich ourselves geographically as a society, foreign settlers (of which I consider myself one) must help ensure these histories are of paramount importance, regardless of what some politicians may believe.

ARTIST STATEMENTWhen is the Gulf of Mexico not the Gulf of Mexico?

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