Spheres of Influence 2001

Joyce Kozloff made 'Spheres of Influence' by collaging printed paper, those slices of maps, into elegant pointed ovals. It's like she's taking apart the world and putting it back together, but in a way that makes you think about how we see and understand the planet. I'm drawn to the way the paper is almost tactile, the way you can see the seams and edges, it's all part of the story. I love how the colors shift from blues and greens to oranges and yellows, a kind of topographic rainbow that invites you on a journey. Each of these ovals holds its own little world. The lines of latitude and longitude give way to this sense of possibility. It's a conversation with artists like Alighiero Boetti, who also played with maps and systems. It reminds us that art is always a dialogue, a back-and-forth across time and space, and that there's always more than one way to see the world.