Ascent (2026) Original Collage by Amelia Coward

Ascent is an original mixed media map collage created from vintage maps of the world’s peaks, mountains and hills.
The piece is composed from hundreds of individually selected map fragments, ranging from maps over 100 years old through to printed atlases from the 1980s. Each fragment has been bonded onto wood and laser cut into circular forms. Every dot contains a small section of mapped terrain: contour lines, ridges, valleys, summits, place names and fragments of remote high ground.
Brought together within a precise geometric grid, these individual fragments form a larger, vista-like landscape of colour, altitude and movement. The composition begins with rich greens at the base, suggesting valleys, foothills and lower ground, before gradually moving through warmer earth tones, ochres, rusts, stone greys and rocky mountain colours. Towards the top, the palette rises into glacial blues, pale greys and summit whites, evoking snow, ice, sky and the highest peaks.
This gradual movement of colour has taken many months to gather and balance. Each map has been chosen not only for its mountain subject matter, but for its precise tone, texture, age and printed detail, allowing the composition to shift slowly from valley floor to summit. The result is both a map-based archive of high places and an abstracted landscape, built from hundreds of circular fragments.
Ascent explores the movement from valley to peak, the human impulse to climb, and the desire to map, measure and make sense of the land. It brings together mountains, hills and elevated places from across the world into one ordered field, transforming cartographic detail into a quiet meditation on height, effort and elevation.
107 x 67 cm (unframed size)
110x70cm framed size
Original vintage maps bonded onto wood
Laser-cut circular elements

Materials used:

vintage maps, Birch wood, Gesso board

Details:

• Collage on Panel / Board / MDF
• One of a kind artwork
• Size: 110 x 70 x 4cm (framed) / 107 x 67cm (actual image size)
• Framed and ready to hang
• Signed on the back
• Style: Geometric
• Subject: Landscapes, sea and sky