Kathy Prendergast

Kathy Prendergast
(b. 1958, Dublin, Ireland)

As a sculptor and a draftswoman, Kathy Prendergast transforms commonplace items such as maps, bits of clothing, human hair, and household objects in order to draw our attention to issues of identity, political power, and individual experience. In 1992, Prendergast began work on an enormous project called City Drawings in which she set out to draw maps of all the world’s major capital cities in pencil. Each map consists of delicate lines that depict the main thoroughfares and streets of a city as though they were the veins and arteries of a human body. When complete, there will be some 180 drawings in this series.

 Prendergast’s “Lost map” appears at first to be a straightforward map of the United States with the familiar topographical information about mountain ranges, lakes, and state borders. Yet, on closer inspection, this computer-generated map reveals that all the names of places have been removed from the map except for those that begin and end with the word lost (e.g., Lost Creek, Lost Island, and Lost Canyon).

In describing “Lost Map” as well as her plans for an impending project, Prendergast writes: “For the last few years I have been researching place-names with the idea of producing an “Emotional Atlas of the World.” This atlas would show all the places in the world which have names connected with emotions, i.e., Lost Bay, Lonely Island, Hearts Desire, etc., rather than the conventional atlas which shows places of importance. The map Lost in the exhibition is a variation on this theme, showing all the “lost” places in North America. Until quite recently maps and atlases were produced by hand. Within the last few years new atlases have been produced using digital technology. It is the combination of this technology, the place-name information on the Internet and my idea that has made my project possible.”