One would think that photography and mapping would not have that much in common, but I think they do. They both depict the three-dimensional world and shift it into a two-dimensional world. Photography accomplishes this feat simply because it records the three-dimensional world and turns it into a flat image. Mapping essentially does the same thing, but it records a particular place—city, state, country, region, hemisphere—into a linear shape.
Mapping generally shows much concern for the edges, the shapes of towns, cities, and countries. But we use the word “mapping” to suggest other things too, such as: charting, depicting, diagramming, drawing, planning, tracing, and designing.
Rachel Sperry’s photographic images are a personal mapping of her life and a generational mapping of her family. She does this by combining images of the past with the present. She cuts and weaves the photographs together—not unlike how our memory works, mapping our experiences together and creating our world.
—Rose Marasco, Maine Arts Journal Photography Editor
Rachel Sperry, The Seawall, woven archival prints, 19 in. x 22 in., 2026.
Rachel Sperry, Flying Mountain, woven archival prints, 19 in. x 22 in., 2026.
Rachel Sperry, Then and Now, woven archival prints, 19 in. x 22 in., 2026.
Rachel Sperry, Sand Beach Then, Seawall Now, woven archival prints, 19 in. x 22 in., 2026.
Rachel Sperry was born in New York City, grew up in Vermont, and spent her formative years in Western Massachusetts. After starting her art studies at Maine College of Art, she completed her BFA in printmaking at Washington University’s Sam Fox School of Art and Design in St. Louis. She lives with her husband and son in South Portland, Maine.
Sperry’s work is currently on view in OverUnder, a two-person exhibition with Rachel Gloria Adams at the USM Crewe Center for the Arts in Portland, Maine, curated by USM Gallery Director Kat Zagaria Buckley.
Full view of image at top: Rachel Sperry, Echo Lake, woven archival prints, 19 in. x 22 in., 2026.