Since childhood I have been fascinated, even obsessed, with both aerial views and maps. I am attracted to the aerial view’s flatness and short shadows, analogous to a relief.

Conceptually, I value the aerial point of view, distant and broad, for its ability to facilitate a synthetic mindset and an attitude of reflection about the world. With the instant availability of this type of imagery on the web, the public has, in the last decade or so, experienced an increased familiarity with the aerial viewpoint, which is quickly becoming as ubiquitous in daily experience as the map. The perpendicular aerial view is one of the principal ways of representing an objet or a scene (the other means being the frontal view) and like the map, its flatness makes it more schematic than the angled view.

Can Geo: What are you hoping people will take away from your art?

RR: I don’t have a single overall concept, as I consider my prints open to different readings, like most images. I would like viewers to be receptive to the various aspects of the art: from its topical considerations about actual suburbia to its science-fictional, hopefully sometimes humorous, exploration of urban organizations, and onto more evocative encounters resting on the viewers own experience of looking and living.

I hope viewers are sensitive to the mood of my images. The mood of an image is something very difficult to put into words, but nevertheless remains a very important aspect of the experience of a work of art. An image is first of all based on form, that’s why it’s an image and not a paragraph of text. An image remains an image before becoming a vehicle for content and a trigger for various interpretations. In this sense, an image is always more than its potential meanings.

Unlike photographs, my drawings are free of the burden of depicting observable reality and lie outside the realm of direct practical application. My suburbs are unconcerned about the consequences of living in them. On the other hand, because of their surreal aspect, the images could be used as brainstorming and mind-expanding aids for planners and other interested viewers. They are often dystopian exaggerations of actual observable situations. In this way they can draw attention to critical aspects of contemporary suburbia. And those of my prints that are rather close to existing conditions can be used as reminders of current environmental predicaments.

Visit Ross Racine’s website to view more images or purchase prints.

Meet Nikki Rosato, an artist who makes map sculptures, and read about David Thomas Smith’s manipulated satellite photos.