Cartographer of the Cosmos
Brianna Blanchard
Major: Environmental Public Health
Genre/Medium: Black and white ink pens on paper
About the Work:
Cartographer of the Cosmos explores the act of mapping the unknown long before it can be reached and long after it has departed past human touch. The piece reflects a quieter, more bittersweet truth about exploration: that scientists and engineers devote years of care and precision to something that they must ultimately release into space, trusting it to continue on alone.
The metallic humanoid figure in this piece symbolizes a cartographer, representing the many collective minds that guide space missions. Suspended above the Psyche spacecraft is a hand guiding it with thin, puppet-line strings, a metaphor for the careful control and intentional design that has shaped its journey. Long before launch were countless decisions, calculations, and adjustments behind-the-scenes, all of which formed a fragile connection.
Beneath the symbolism of the precision that was needed in the planning process is a more emotional weight. Once the spacecraft was launched, it began a journey that was profoundly lonely, venturing across the immensely vast and silent expanse of space where no human will ever see or touch it again. Yet, with that said, the solitude it faces is not entirely empty. With it, this spacecraft carries years of dedication and acts of care that were poured into its creation. No matter how far it may travel beyond Earth, it still will always remain deeply connected to the people that helped send it forward.
Diving deeper into various elements, the cartographer sits at a desk positioned on top of asteroid-textured ground, meant to show the act of mapping being grounded in the physical reality of different planetary bodies. On top of the desk lies an open book with loose forms inspired by Psyche’s potentially remnant magnetic field lines, an acknowledgement of the different invisible forces that scientists seek to better understand. An hourglass marks the incredibly long time required for space missions, while a compass, a deliberate reference to my second piece, signals direction and movement. Traditional cartographic tools are scattered throughout, such as vintage calipers and a feather pen, as well as a spyglass aligning with the cartographer’s eye. The spyglass, in a way, emphasizes the act of observation and how humans extend our senses through engineered instruments in order to interpret what we might not be able to directly see.
Next to the book lies an ornate mirror showing the Psyche asteroid suspended in space. This is another callback to my earlier work, reinforcing the idea that exploration can serve as an act of reflection by helping us understand our own origins. Then, in the upper right hand corner, the giant eye ties the central themes of the piece together by embodying both human observation and technological vision. Lastly, close to the center is a spiraling trajectory modeled after the Psyche spacecraft’s general flight path, a route that was carefully mapped and planned prior to launch.
For my third piece created for this program, I intentionally returned to black and white after working with vivid colors in my previous painting. I wanted this one to feel more graphic and direct, making pen the ideal medium. While I used pencil to lightly map out structures before committing to ink, most of the shadows were created through stippling and line work, something that required a level of patience and precision that I’m not always used to. Although it was meticulous and sometimes a tad bit frustrating, I found it satisfying to watch the form gradually emerge from hundreds of small dots.
Ultimately, Cartographer of the Cosmos is about mapping with intention and then learning to let go. Though the Psyche mission itself has been guided by science and precision, it asks something more tender of us. It serves as a reminder to create with care and release with trust, requiring the hopeful belief that what we send into the vast unknown will always carry a part of us long after we are no longer there to witness it.
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