To live a curiosity-driven life, creatives must find their own personal inspiration. As Val Britton describes, cartography was at that point of interest for her. Maps are open and connectable in every direction, much like our personal journey. The parts are very malleable: they can be torn, detached, reversed, and capable of both dynamic and subtle changes. We can conceive them as abstract art or as meditation. In our childhood, fearless enthusiasm ignites the journey of discovery. As we get older, most of us trade curiosity and wonder for certainty and security. Paradoxically, it is only as an adult that our brains have developed enough to process creativity and turn puzzles into plans and ideas. Britton achieves new depths of knowledge by reverting to her subconscious mind to explore, question, and travel to the unknown. Her experiences, combined with curiosity, lead to revolutionary creativity.

This multidisciplinary conceptual artist creates collages, sculptures, and glass murals. Working in an organic, intuitive way, this collagist uses papers that interconnect geography to neural pathways. Paper is the material of choice for Britton, as it leads itself to fragility and tenuousness. As new information incorporates into the brain and combines with what she already knows, transformation can occur. The buildup of layers in her work allows for her transformative “emotional landscapes” to exist within her imagination. “They are a record of time spent ‘ordering and sifting’ tragic events that befell her at an early age.”  With the series known as Reverberations, Britton’s desire is for transformation to occur with her audience, as well.

In 2015, Britton completed an installation for the San Francisco International Airport, commissioned by the San Francisco Arts Commission. Voyage comprises 15 laminated glass panels measuring nearly 9.5 feet tall and 55 feet wide. Franz Mayer & Company fabricated the panoramic piece in Munich, Germany. Britton researched the history of the airport, the land it sits on, weather patterns, and passenger statistics. She used plans of the airport, a map of the bay, wind patterns, flight routes and topography to generate imagery.

The Houston Energy Center commissioned Britton to install her Continental Collision mobile in their atrium made of acrylic, aircraft cable, and water jet cut aluminum. The pieces were inspired by the state of Texas in both literal and abstract ways. This installation draws the viewer around the curve as it changes views with its light and shadows.

Her installation pieces, such as Cascade, move from the two to the four-dimensional sculptural space, using paper and adding string to collage the torn pieces together. As part of Facebook’s Artist in Residence program, Britton worked amongst the staff. This 600-piece installation in a light shaft between floors at Facebook Headquarters resembles knot or lace making and gives it the integrity of the human hand. The installation keeps the same metaphysical quality as the two-dimensional works as torn pieces inform and influence each other. As the paper edges remind the audience of lakes, mountains, and other earthly terrains from above, the opposite occurs when seen below as if we are witnessing a map of celestial bodies floating in space.

To see more of Britton’s work, here is a Link to Britton’s website.

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