Working from New York State topographical maps, Geraldine Lau distills the cartographic elements of manmade and natural forms that make up the bird’s eye view of the landscape. Using a total of 20 maps as a reference for Information Retrieval #118 she selected elements to scan then reconfigured them in the computer to create the composition for the stairwell. Twenty colors of vinyl were used and cut by a computer-guided tool. Lau reassembled and applied each section to the wall according to her overall plan. Utilizing four walls, the image wraps around the corner bringing forward different views depending on the position of the viewer. In Lau’s work, the language of maps is transposed to this specific space, taking symbols that denote nature such as lakes, swamps and rivers, and combining those with the freeways and the built environment. The result is not a literal map, but an open-ended journey from the city to the country, similar to the route traveled by visitors to Wave Hill.

Geraldine Lau has exhibited drawings, prints and wall installations at Bronx Museum of the Arts, Bronx, NY; the Visual Arts Gallery, New York, NY; The New Museum, New York, NY; and the Arts Center of the Capital Region, Troy, NY. She participated in the Lower East Side Printshop Special Editions Fellowship Program, World Views at the World Trade Center, and has received grants from the New York Arts Recovery Fund and the Pollock-Krasner Foundation.