These paintings are about finding my place in the world. They arise from a desire to map the entanglement of personal experiences with the cultural terrain—I seem to wander through a topography of language, Photoshop, and scientific illustrations littered with historical landmarks. Wandering is more than being lost; it is mobility. My mobilized imagery enables me to triangulate unknown territories with known landmarks. However, mobility means never coming to rest.

Consider the outmoded cartography phrase “terra incognita,” literally, “unknown land.” Finding an unknown territory changes my place. For example, the discovery of 892 extra-solar planets, some appearing Earthlike, changes our own planet by reframing it. The terra incognita out there defines our place here. Yet, I already live in terra incognita: the world picture of digital simulations and virtual landscapes of unknowns that are endlessly multiplied. Even as I affirm that there are more terra incognitas today than ever before, it brings me a kind of homelessness. We seem to restlessly make places without ever finding our own.