About Matthew Cusick

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BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Maps and cartographic oceans are virtually bound to objectivity. What the true-to-scale representations lack, Matthew Cusick gives them: impulsiveness, emotion and power. In his Map Works, Cusick combines parts of the map works like a puzzle to create new, rushing motifs. Huge waves pile up where numbers and lines would otherwise determine the generalized image. His collages transform the original two-dimensionality of the maps into a three-dimensional effect that even does justice to the gigantic dimensions of a crashing wave.

Matthew Cusick discovered the motif of the wave through Japanese art - in particular through Katsushika Hokusai's famous work The Great Wave of Kanagawa. In Cusick's works, reality and fiction, past and present, personal experience and collective memory merge into complex visual narratives.

Since 2002, Cusick has been using maps as a surrogate for color: each map is cut up precisely and the fragments are placed seamlessly next to each other so that the picture surface retains its flat materiality. The selection and arrangement of the map pieces follow not only aesthetic criteria, but also their geographical and historical relevance - each fragment contributes to the narrative of the work.

In 2024, Cusick expanded his working method: He began digitizing his extensive map archive and developing digital techniques that replicate his traditional cutting and inlaying technique. In addition to his own high-resolution scans, he is now able to integrate rare and previously inaccessible map materials from international online archives. His digital works thus not only expand the diversity of his material, but also preserve the technical precision and narrative quality of his classic collages.

About the artist

More than twenty years ago, Matthew Cusick (*1970) discovered a box of old maps in his studio - the beginning of a body of work that is now internationally recognized. His works have been published in The New York Times, Harper's Magazine and Art in America, among others, and are part of important private and public collections.

Cusick, who originally trained as a painter, favors subjects such as massive waves, landscapes and portraits. Born in New York, he now lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. 

Working method

Masterful collages from maps - traditional and digital

Cusick uses maps to create powerful collages in which distant places and time zones merge into new visual worlds. Using scissors and a cutter - and today also digital precision - he reorganizes the fundamental systems of order in our modern society. His works are homages to foreign lands, travel, history - and to the power of the imagination.

“Maps offer so much potential. I wanted to see where they would take me.”

VITA

1970 Born in New York, USA Lives and Works in Brooklyn, NY, USA