Def. Memory Map: n, a representation of the world as one sees and remembers it.
Perception is altered by one’s interaction with the particular place, as well as by previous experiences elsewhere.
Like scraps of memories, I collage pieces of fabric together to create a representation of home. My maps record memories of daily life; a sunlit kitchen, a twisted dirt road, the route I biked to school each day. The scaled-down nature of maps forces me to work abstractly, prioritizing and symbolizing my recollections.

My maps are made of cloth, an intimate and familiar material. I use fabric that I create with repeated applications of dye, bleach and silk-screened elements. I collage these fabrics together to recall a place in my memory, and further embellish my recollections with hand embroidery. In the process, I become as familiar with the surface of the cloth as I am with the surfaces of places I have called “home.”

Emily Miah Stewart
Return to home page
© 2005 Emily Stewart. ems@emilymiah.com