Representing the world, the curved surface of the Earth, three-dimensional space on a flat plane: Since the ancient world, scientists and scholars have created maps to support orientation in every aspect. Cartography has developed road maps for motorists and nautical charts for maritime navigation as a means of serving commercial or political interest. Digital maps are created with the help of technical devices. Satellites invisibly float in space, scan every detail, record every change, generate the perfect projection and create a fascinating spectacle between science and aesthetics. Updated images are easily accessible on the computer every few months and appear to represent reality, but there is more between the Earth and sky in a virtual sphere. Nikkole Huss explores this terrain in detail:

As an artist, I strive to represent the space and time in between moments of digital representation by generating futuristic growths and appendages via using a range of organic substances that heighten the tactile quality of the work.

In her current exhibition, Nikkole Huss displays a series of encaustic paintings and fiber pieces inspired by her investigation of imagery provided by Google Earth and the Hubble Space Telescope. Reminiscent of topography with continents and swirling clouds at odd elevations, shifting according to the conditions of wind, temperature and barometric pressure in addition to sky maps with collapsing and regenerating regions of dust, hydrogen gas and plasma, her manipulation of wax and wool echoes the texture of evolution in the constant transformation of space. Excavated from the ground and elevated to the sky, multiple perspectives of the Earth are extracted out of their context. Nikkole Huss further states:

Hand-made processes counteract yet complement the technological realm. Imaginary space intersects virtual reality; the predetermined pattern of delicate lines and hand-crafted forms move about in unique directions. Contours sag and sway, bump and bruise, leak and bleed, and permeate through layers of movement and exhaustion. The incessant movement of shadows, delicate lines, and consistency of organic materials is both transitory and ephemeral just as nature is fragile and vulnerable yet exemplifies a duality of inner strength, adaptability and resiliency.

Nikkole Huss is an American artist and an Assistant Professor of Art at Concordia University Chicago in River Forest, Illinois. In 2007, she was represented by ARTexhibitionLink in Berliner Liste '07 in Berlin, Germany and The Summer Show in Santa Severa, Italy. Her educational background consists of a Bachelor of Science in Education from Northern Illinois University and a Master of Fine Arts from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. http://www.nikkolehuss.com

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