Making my thoughts visible

How can personal collective narratives be represented through traces of memory signified by found (personal) objects collected and imprinted in the creation of personal maps.

Cartography is defined as the science and art of making maps or graphical representations/images showing spatial concepts at various scales. Maps may convey geographic information about a place and can be useful in understanding topography, weather and culture depending upon the type of map.

My project deals with creating a a layered map that may illustrate my personal narratives based on my social encounters. The finished work shall consist of a 3ft x 4 ft, 3 piece layered collagraph print in tracing paper and three relief artwork based on the print’s 3 matrix.

The work shall represent traces of an incomplete cartography, at the same time selective and fragmentary . It is a subjective approach in representing a personal narrative . This project reflects on my personal social encounters and how each interaction may have shaped my personhood.

My personhood changes with every type of social relationship I experience. I used print as a medium in order to exploit its quality of being reproducible. My project also deals with tracing memory and imprints of personal narratives. Print is an appropriate medium to capture the image of things, to preserve memories of social encounters signified by significant found objects in their ephemeral form.

By creating imprints of found objects collected from significant individuals in my life, I will be able to create a work that presents a collection of personal memories in the form of a map that shall situate these individuals based on various levels of intimacy.

Objects from individuals met in casual encounters may be in the form of small apparels. This size of the apparel may signify the encounter, short, perhaps intimate but fleeting. Peers and friends usually gave casual wear which signifies a certain type of comfort within the relationship but not at all intimate.

Relatives gave either formal wear or “pambahay”. These clothes signify the events in which I usually encounter these people, either at formal events or at home.