
3.5″x3.5″; collage; 2020. Courtesy of the artist.
COLLAGE ON VIEW
Around the World in 366 Boxes
at Adam Peck Gallery in Provincetown, Massachusetts, USA
22 December 2020-3 January 2021
Sian Robertson is a self-taught artist originally from the United Kingdom who has lived on outer Cape Cod, Massachusetts for over 20 years. She likes to say that a beautiful map makes her heart race and her hand reach for her X-acto knife. In 2020, her hand reached for that knife every single day as she worked on her daily project, “Around the World in 366 Boxes”, where she created a small piece of art that contains some sort of cartographic element and fits in a 3.5″ square box.
Robertson said: “It recently occurred to me that I make 3D art from maps, which are a 2D representation of a 3D world–so in this daily project for 2020, I set out to experiment with hundreds (literally) of ways to create a 3D mini piece of art using something from a map or an atlas, a 3.5” x 3.5” x 1” box, and anything else I might want to include.”

3.5″x3.5″; collage; 2020. Courtesy of the artist.
When she started the project she had no idea how long most of the boxes would take to make but, with the pandemic limiting job opportunities and social gatherings, 2020 turns out to have been a good year to take on such an endeavor. Known for her work created from used maps, Robertson is driven almost entirely by the aesthetics of the colors and shapes within them. But the beauty of a project to create 366 pieces of art (it is a leap year after all) is that it gives her the freedom to experiment, to be more playful. The maps and cartographic charts have been cut, torn, layered, rolled, curled and often combined with other elements such as vintage photographs, postage stamps, tiny glass bottles, old toys, red map pins, and more. The results range from narrative to abstract, sculptural to delicate, simple to complex; each one standing on its own individuality, and as a whole a wild mosaic of adventures across the world.
At the end of 2020, Robertson took over Adam Peck Gallery and turned it into a calendar featuring every single one of her 366 boxes.
To follow the project, visit the artist’s website HERE and/or on Facebook and Instagram. To purchase work, see the artist’s Facebook or Instagram or contact the gallery.
(text adapted from the artist’s press materials)
INFORMATION
Adam Peck Gallery
142 Commercial Street
Provincetown, Massachusetts 02657 USA
(508) 274-8298
Hours:
Saturday-Sunday, 11AM-4PM and by appointment