Portland-based Francesca Berrini deconstructs and reconstitutes found maps using the process of collage. Drawn initially to what appear to be ordinary maps, and the reassuring sense of place maps provide, the viewer soon discovers that any effort of place recognition is futile. These places, comprised of torn, half-inch square map remnants are purely fictional. The richly textured quilt of landmasses, oceans, deserts, rivers, and cities exist solely in the artist’s imagination.

Berrini’s maps explore the idea of alteration of the landscape. Her work reflects an interest in man’s transient inflictions upon nature: arbitrary borders, routes of travel, titles of places.

Berrini is a graduate of the Furniture Design Program at the Rhode Island School of Design. She has professional experience as a metal fabricator and finisher, and currently designs and produces her own line of greeting cards. Her work has appeared in a variety of Seattle publications, including The Stranger, Tablet, The Seattle Weekly, and The Seattle Post Intelligencer, and was recently featured in ReadyMade magazine.