"Traveling, to me, is an interest not only because of the shift in the physical body from one place to another, but also the shift that takes place mentally when one enters a new environment which one is not familiar with. There is also a shift in time from one place on the map to another, and from one emergence in a culture to the next. This obsession that I have with travel also leads to my interests in history and culture. Before my time, in a specific place, there have been other people and cultures in that exact area, but they have seen it in a different way. These cultures emerge with mine when I travel to these locations and see them through my own personal history and culture.This obsession I have with travel is shown through the use of maps from different states and countries. It is also shown through the vein-like trails or routes that are drawn onto the maps, or transferred onto the painting. Drawn within these maps with pen and ink, are other images of specific things that relate to the history of the place or my personal relationship to the space. Of ten these images include architecture from the areas where I have spent time or have passed by. Along with the maps, I show my involvement with history and culture by the images of ancient civilizations or the black and white photos. With the smaller paintings I use different civilizations together to show the emerging cultures of the past with the present, and how there has been a lapse in time an place within these cultures. With the larger paintings I am relating more with my personal travel to a place and the lapse in time that takes place within my travel and the history of others that have traveled before me in that area. Other elements I use in my paintings are the use of aerial views; this along with the view of the maps, architecture, and flat images creates a skewed sense of place, a feeling that the viewer is looking at this image from multiple points of view. This shows that with history, images are viewed in different ways and from different angels, because of culture, religion, ethnicity, or experience. The layers of information indicate time, which has shifted with each traveler. This is the story of my travels, through cultures, books, maps, dreams, and reality. This is where civilizations come together in my mind." -Jodie Mohrhardt