PTOLEMY’S POSTCARDS

©2003 Stephanie Cunningham

PVC Sheet, Ink on Vellum, Color Photos

4 panels: 6 x 24 inch each

Ptolemy’s Postcards muses on the accessibility and scale of the world made possible through modern travel. This work imagines a visual missive from myself to Ptolemy­—postcards  indicating a world bigger than he ever imagined.

Over time the artifacts of travel pile up in the form of maps and snapshots. The locations of the snapshots used here are personally meaningful. Splices of photographs are composed in four 4 x 6 inch postcard formats that each describe a place in one of the cardinal directions. Each is partially veiled by vellum sheets that utilize a map fold to enclose them and map pins to secure them to the wall. Traced on the vellum are partial maps. The maps must be viewed by pressing the layers of vellum together. The act of interaction offers the viewer the opportunity of discovery or recognition. The scraps of information recall fragmented memories of place.