Trials in digital and physical mapping
- Katie Shaw
- Jan 1
- 2 min read
Part of my practice has been exploring how movement through landscape can be represented visually - not just with a camera, but with tracing, drawing, mapping. I have been experimenting in both physical and digital ways, and it's been a bit of a learning curve.
I tried embroidery first. The idea was simple - translate my hiking routes and surf observational routes into stitched lines, echoing the paths I take across hills, beaches, and fields. In practice let's just say I discovered I'm not a natural embroiderer... It was frustrating but also rewarding to try something new. I liked how the thread felt on the page as I was sewing into photographs. Even if it didn't look that pretty, It felt cool so that's all that really mattered. I enjoyed the tactile process of it all, almost as if i was retracing the paths I had walked. Although the results weren't exactly what I wanted, I learnt a lot about patience and attention. I will spare your eyes and not include pics of my embroidery attempts.
Then I moved onto digital drawing, using my Wacom tablet in Photoshop to trace the GPS routes and topographic map lines. Suddenly, what was cumbersome and awkward for me with a needle and thread became fluid and a much more enjoyable process for me. I could make layers and erase mistakes without ruining the whole thing and the editing and creative process felt more intuitive. It let me focus more on interpretation and revisiting memories instead of worrying
about the execution.
That said, the embroidery experiment wasn't wasted. It reminded me of how much skill and patience is involved in any craft, and how digital tools can free up energy to focus on interpretation. For now, i am embracing the tablet over the thread, letting the interpretation live in the pixels... until i print them out.
In the end, both trials - digital and physical - are about translating experience, testing ideas, and seeing how movement can be visualised. One is more precise and playful, the other slower and, for me, more challenging. Both taught me something about attention, process, and the ways landscape can be recorded and relived.
